Purpose To examine 5 infant characteristics and health factors that might be risk factors for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants. Subjects 134 preterm infants at high risk for NEC due to either having a birthweight of <1500 grams or requiring mechanical ventilation at birth. Design Descriptive secondary analysis using data from a larger longitudinal study. Methods Weekly review of infant’s medical record until discharge. Demographic questionnaire completed by mothers at time of enrollment. Data analysis done with logistic regression, Fischer’s exact tests and correlations. Outcome Measures Total number of days infant required mechanical ventilation, birthweight in grams, number of infections prior to NEC diagnosis, maternal race (Black, White or Asian), and infant gender were used to predict the development of NEC. Results Maximum likelihood estimates indicated that mechanical ventilation had a positive relationship with developing NEC, such that as the number of days of mechanical ventilation increased so did the risk of developing NEC. There was also a very strong positive relationship between the number of nosocomial infections and NEC indicating that as the number of infections increased the likelihood of developing NEC increased. Although the relationship between race and NEC was not significant in the logistic regression, a Fisher’s exact test showed that Black preterm infants had increased incidence of NEC as compared to other races. This relationship was not due to correlations between race and mechanical ventilation or infections. No relationship between gender on NEC was noted. Birthweight was not significantly associated with NEC in the logistic regression but was correlated with NEC, probably because of its correlation with mechanical ventilation and number of infections. Conclusions In this sample, number of infections and length of mechanical ventilation were the primary predictors of NEC in preterm infants. In addition, the frequency that Black infants are diagnosed with NEC is significantly higher than that of other races. Knowledge of risk factors for NEC can allow healthcare providers to evaluate and adjust care practices for preterm infants who present with higher risk for NEC based on empirical data.

The authors systematically reviewed the nursing literature for articles describing substance use disorders (SUDs) education in schools of nursing. Five literature databases were searched, producing 3107 retrieved articles, of which 12 were included in this review. A Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument score was calculated for each study. The included studies demonstrated that teaching nursing students about SUDs produced a positive impact on their attitudes, knowledge, and skills.