Parental perceptions and experiences of care in the surgical neonatal intensive care unit

Background Parents endure significant stress when their newborns require surgery while in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Our study aims to explore the surgical NICU experience from the parents’ perspective and identify areas that may improve this experience. A secondary objective was to in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pediatric surgery international 2023-06, Vol.39 (1), p.210-210, Article 210
Main Authors: Lam, Jennifer Y., Howlett, Alexandra, Stephen, Lori M., Brindle, Mary E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Emotions
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Intensive care
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Newborn babies
Original
Original Article
Parents - psychology
Patient Discharge
Pediatric Surgery
Pediatrics
Recovery (Medical)
Surgery
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background Parents endure significant stress when their newborns require surgery while in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Our study aims to explore the surgical NICU experience from the parents’ perspective and identify areas that may improve this experience. A secondary objective was to integrate their feedback to refine the implementation strategy of the neonatal enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS ® ) guideline. Methods In December 2019, five surgical NICU parents participated in a focus group. Conversation surrounded parents’ perspectives and experiences of the surgical NICU. Inductive analysis was performed to identify data, themes, and concepts that emerged from the discussion. Results Participants identified four major interrelated themes that impacted the surgical parents’ NICU experience. These themes include (1) parental state, both physical and emotional, (2) the altered parental caregiver role which necessitates identifying alternative meaningful parental experiences, (3) the care team dynamic, incorporating consistency and effective communication, and (4) the discharge process which may be significantly eased through graduated, hands-on training. Conclusion Key elements of the neonatal ERAS ® guideline address major themes and stressors identified by parents. The parental perspective may help clinicians appreciate the parent surgical NICU experience and assist in improving family-centered care to surgical infants and their families.
ISSN:1437-9813
0179-0358
1437-9813
DOI:10.1007/s00383-023-05484-0