Addressing Gaps in Knowledge for Infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: A literature review (Preprint)

Abstract

Neonatal abstinence syndrome is a growing epidemic worldwide. Infants diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome require extensive medical care and are at risk for complex health conditions. This literature review aims to identify current knowledge gaps in nursing practice in caring for infants diagnosed with NAS and their families.

This review aimed to identify and synthesize current best practice guidelines for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome. A comprehensive search strategy was developed, and four scholarly databases (CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane and Google Scholar) were searched. Additional articles were identified through hand searching the reference lists of key articles. Relevant articles were critically analyzed for their implications on infant and family health, family experience, health system outcomes, and nursing practice.

This literature review revealed the Eat, Sleep, Console model of care is optimal but is not widely used in practice. Further efforts are needed to support the real-world implementation of evidence-based models of care for this population.