Authors: (including presenting author): :
Chan MY(1), Yip YM(1), Fu YM(1), Lee B(1), Cheung SC(1)
Affiliation: :
Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Princess Margaret Hospital
Keyword 2: :
cycled lighting
Keyword 3: :
nursing practice
Keyword 4: :
environmental adjustments
Introduction: :
- Infants always expose to high intensity of lighting in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) which may be detrimental to their growth and development.
- Excessive lighting triggers stress level in high-risk infants such as physiological instability, alteration in sleep patterns as well as increase in motor activity level. - In our unit, there was lack of standard protocol on light control.
- Controlled lighting in NICU such as cycled lighting has been reported for beneficial effects to the growth of infants which maintained infant physiological stability and a reduction in motor activity level, and hence shorter length of hospitalization.
Objectives: :
- To increase staff awareness on the effects of environmental lighting to high-risk infants in NICU.
- To promote optimal environmental lighting for the growth and development of high-risk infants in NICU by implementation of cycled lighting.
Methodology: :
- A clinical trial on implementation of cycled lighting in NICU by controlling environmental light intensity between day and night time among infants with post conceptional ages between 28 to 40 weeks was conducted from September 2024 to March 2025. - Cycled lighting was divided into two cycles: during day cycle from 7 am to 7pm, infants exposed to lighting of 200 to 225 lux while in night cycle, infants were cared under 200 lux from 7pm to 7am respectively.
- Recommendations for reducing light exposure can be achieved by modifying nursing practices and making environmental adjustments within clinical settings. - Physiological parameters of infants such as heart rates, saturation, sleep patterns and oxygen consumption were recorded during the period of cycle lighting.
- Environmental lighting in NICU was continued measured in this period.
Result & Outcome: :
- Continued measurements of environmental light intensity in NICU before and after project showed significant improvement in light intensity reduction. Before the program, light intensity in day time ranged from 260-300 lux, coming up to 1100 lux when opening curtain which highly exceeded than recommended level by American Academy of Pediatrics. Light intensity in night time ranged from 190-210 Lux. After the project, light intensity in NICU was improved and ranged from 173-202 lux in day time and 50-95 lux in night time respectively. - Nurses’ knowledge on cycled lighting increased after education program with scores increased from 6.8/10 to 9.2/10. Nurses showed positive attitudes towards cycled lighting which enhanced implementation of cycled lighting in NICU. Moreover, infants demonstrated improvements in physiological indicators such as heart rate, respiratory status, and sleep patterns under various clinical conditions when environmental adjustments and staff behavioral modifications implemented in the NICU.
