International Journal of TROPICAL DISEASE & Health

Background: Extremely premature infants, born before 28 weeks of gestation, have underdeveloped organ systems and are highly susceptible to complications such as infection, apnea, and feeding intolerance. Traditional NICU care often limits parental involvement, which may negatively affect infant development and increase caregiver anxiety. Family-centered nursing combined with individualized one-to-one care has been proposed to improve clinical outcomes and support both neonatal growth and parental psychological well-being.

Objective: To explore the application value of one-to-one specialized nursing combined with family nursing mode in the clinical care of extremely premature infants (Extremely premature infants were defined according to the WHO criterion as gestational age less than 28 weeks, and most enrolled infants had a birth weight below 1000 g.). This study retrospectively analyzed 86 extremely premature infants from two hospitals, aiming to explore the influence of the combined nursing scheme on complication rate, growth and rehabilitation progress, as well as psychological state and nursing satisfaction of family members, so as to provide evidence-based reference for clinical promotion of high-quality neonatal nursing.

Methods: A total of 43 extremely premature infants admitted to the NICU of Yulin Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital from 2016 to 2025 were selected as the observation group, and another 43 eligible extremely premature infants from Yulin Children’s Hospital were set as the control group. The control group received conventional NICU nursing, while the observation group adopted one-to-one exclusive nursing combined with family participation intervention. This study passed ethical committee approval and all guardians signed informed consent. The complication rate, physical development indexes, oxygen supply duration, full oral feeding time and hospitalization days were compared between the two groups. Meanwhile, Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) were adopted to evaluate family members’ mood and nursing satisfaction.

Results: The overall complication rate of the observation group was obviously lower than that of the control group (P＜0.05). The daily weight gain, body length and head circumference of infants in observation group were higher; the time of oxygen therapy, complete oral feeding and hospital stay were significantly shorter with statistical differences (P＜0.05). After intervention, SAS and SDS scores of family members in observation group were remarkably lower, while nursing satisfaction was higher (P＜0.05).

Conclusion: The combined model of one-to-one nursing and family nursing can effectively reduce the occurrence of complications of extremely premature infants, accelerate physical development and functional recovery, and shorten hospitalization time. It can also relieve negative emotions of family members, improve their nursing ability and overall satisfaction, which is worthy of clinical promotion.