Research from the research utilization project: environmental temperatures.

Thermoregulation is one of the most common concerns for neonatal nurses. The literature contains limited information regarding the effects of environmental temperature during the transitioning process from the incubator to the crib for the premature infant weighing 1,500-1,800 g. The type and amount of insulation while in the incubator and open crib and the effects of the cooler environmental temperature may influence the success of the weaning process from the incubator. As an adjunct to the Transition of the Preterm Infant to an Open Crib Research Utilization Project, sponsored by the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), nurses collected data regarding environmental temperatures at 6 of the 10 project sites. The average correlation of infant's temperature to environmental temperature once the infant was out of the incubator for a weaning period was 0.09. In one-third of the cases, the environmental temperature never varied; however, in the rest of the infants, mean infant temperatures during weaning stayed constant, with little variance. There appears to be no association between neonatal intensive-care unit environmental temperature and infant's temperature during the weaning process when nurses followed a specific protocol of layering the infant with blankets.