Review article Open Access Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Malaysia: Staff Nurses ’ Positive Eperiences

Background: Stress can come in many forms and NICU is an environment where there may be many types of stress such as nursing a critically ill baby, increased workload, taking on other roles, coping with the death and dealing with parents. Purpose: To explore and describe staff nurses ’ (SN) positive experiences while working in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in one of Malaysia Method: A qualitative interpretative approach using a convenience sample of four staff nurses; described using pseudonyms, from NICU in one Malaysian hospital participated in an interview conducted in English, followed by answering a semi-structured questionnaire in Malay. Responses were translated into English prior to thematic analysis using the method of Braun and Clarke [1]. Results: Two major themes emerged, learning opportunities; describes the new knowledge and skills staff nurses had developed, and feelings of satisfaction; describes sources contributing to staff nurses ’ satisfaction while working in NICU. Conclusions: The findings revealed that staff nurses ’ positive experiences of gaining knowledge, developing new skills, opportunity to further study in post-basic courses and being appointed as a team leader upon their achievements.