Background: Endotracheal tubes (ETTs) and mechanical ventilation (MV) are commonly
used in the pediatric intensive care units. Despite being life-saving, they can make patients feel
uncomfortable. Purpose: To evaluate the effect of developing nursing practice guidelines on
comfort behavior in intubated pediatric patients. Research design: A quasi experimental design. It
was carried out at pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Menoufia University Hospital. Sample: A
convenient sample of 33 nurses and 60 intubated pediatric patients. Instruments: Three data
collection instruments were used; structured interview questionnaire, comfort behavior Likert scale
and observational checklist for nurses' practice. Results: There were highly statistical significant
differences between nurses' knowledge and practices on post intervention compared to pre
intervention. As well, intubated pediatric patients who received nursing care based on nursing
practice guidelines showed a highly statistical significant improvement in the different levels of
comfort behavior (73.3% VS 3.3%). Conclusion: Implementation of nursing practice guidelines
improved nurses' knowledge and practices regarding promoting comfort behavior in intubated
pediatric patients on post and follow-up tests than on pretest. Also, it contributed to lower levels of
discomfort behavior in intubated pediatric patients on posttest than on pretest. Recommendations:
The study recommended that ongoing in-service education programs about promoting comfort
behavior in intubated pediatric patients should be designed and implemented in all pediatric
intensive care units to improve nurses' knowledge and practices on the basis of nurse's actual needs.