睡眠節律的發展與照護行為的關係

The Relationship between Sleep/Awake Rhythm Development and Caregiving Activities

保護神經發育是近年來早產兒照護的核心議題，由於睡眠（行為）狀態是早產兒神經系統成熟度及統整與否的良好指標，了解早產兒的睡眠型態是提供發展性照護非常重要的議題。本文主要探討早產兒生理節律的起源、睡眠型態的發展、影響睡眠的因素以及照顧者應有的行為措施。生理節律與睡眠型態的發展，隨著早產兒之成熟而日趨規律，而環境中的噪音、光線、溫度和照護中的觸摸、擺位對早產兒睡眠清醒型態有重大影響。因此，針對這些影響因素，本文提出可促進早產兒睡眠品質的照護環境及行為。期能藉由此些探討，促使護理人員對早產兒的睡眠型態有更深層的認識及了解，並將此概念融入早產兒的發展性照護措施中，協助早產兒能有更好的睡眠品質及神經發育。

Ensuring proper central nerve system (CNS) development is the core issue in premature infant care. Because an infant's sleep pattern (or sleep state) manifests his or her CNS integration, recognizing infant sleep patterns is essential for caregivers involved with developmental care. This article aims to explore the development of biological rhythms and infant sleep/awake states, factors influencing sleep states, and the effectiveness of various interventions to promote infant sleep. Five major factors that influence infant sleep states include noise, light, environmental temperature, physical contact with caregivers, and body position. Accordingly, we propose interventions to improve infant sleep quality to facilitate the growth of premature infants.