| Description |
Thousands of premature and low birthweight infants are hospitalized every year. For the parents of these infants, generally of low income, this both stressful and expensive experience is also their first sustained contact with health care providers. This contact between health care providers and parents while in the hospital must be of quality to facilitate optimal family outcomes. Family-centered care is the goal for hospitals and health care providers. Parents of infants in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU), however, often do not experience this ideal. Quality nursing care means being technically competent, while directly involving families in the care of, and meeting the needs of, patients. One barrier to meeting the needs of families is the existence of mismatches between nurses' and parents' views of parents' needs and nursing care in the NICU. Most studies identify parent issues or needs, such as stress from seeing the infant's appearance or health status, the sights and sounds of the unit, the need for information, the alteration in the parent's role, the emotional needs of parents, and the uniqueness of the infant and family. Though parents can best rate the care their family receives, their perspective has seldom been sought. Components of quality nursing care, including meeting families' needs and aligning nurses' and parents' perceptions toward congruency, are found in the literature. Nursing research is needed to gain knowledge about parent needs and to bridge gaps in nursing practice in order to carry out the delivery of quality care. |
