Evaluation of comparative efficacy of newly developed clinical pathway for care of preterm neonates as against the existing newborn nursing care pathway on neonatal outcome

Preterm birth is a significant public health issue across the world because of associated neonatal (first 28 days of life) mortality and short-term and long-term morbidity and disability in later life.

According to WHO, every year about 15 million babies are born prematurely around the world and that is more than 1 in 10 of all babies born globally. Almost 1 million children die each year because of complications of preterm birth (2013). Across 184 countries, the rate of preterm birth ranges from 5% to 18% of babies born. In India, out of 27 million babies born every year (2010 data), 3.5 million babies born are premature as per the estimates.

Clinical Pathway (CP) is a term used to describe interdisciplinary plans of best care for designated groups of clients with a specific disease. These plans help with coordination and the provision of high-quality care. It also follows a systematic therapy plan with predetermined results.

Clinical Pathway can also be referred to by the terms Anticipatory recovery paths (ARPs), Integrated Care routes, Multidisciplinary pathways of care (MPCs), Care Maps, Collaborative Care paths, and Critical Pathway

The impact of specific developmental care practices on preterm infants has been researched extensively. Moreover, the dissemination of knowledge about developmental care has facilitated broader care that combines different kinds of developmental care practices in different NICUs. However, little is known about how variation in nursing care affects infant’s outcomes

So the aim of this study is The study aims toevaluate the effectiveness of clinical pathway for care of preterm to improve the preterm outcome.

The study aims toevaluate the effectiveness of clinical pathway for care of preterm to improve the preterm outcome.