Parent and nurse perceptions on the quality of family-centred care in 11 European NICUs

Separation and Closeness Experiences in Neonatal Environment (SCENE) research group

doi:10.1016/j.aucc.2016.09.003

Parent and nurse perceptions on the quality of family-centred care in 11 European NICUs

Aust Crit Care. 2016 Nov;29(4):201-209. doi: 10.1016/j.aucc.2016.09.003.

Author

Separation and Closeness Experiences in Neonatal Environment (SCENE) research group

Collaborators

Separation and Closeness Experiences in Neonatal Environment (SCENE) research group:
Simo Raiskila¹, Liisa Lehtonen², Bente Silnes Tandberg³, Erik Normann⁴, Uwe Ewald⁵, Sylvia Caballero⁶, Heili Varendi⁷, Liis Toome⁸, Marianne Nordhøv⁹, Boubou Hallberg¹⁰, Björn Westrup¹¹, Rosario Montirosso¹², Anna Axelin¹³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Kiinamyllynkatu 4-8, 20520 Turku, Finland. Electronic address: simo.raiskila@utu.fi.
² Department of Pediatrics, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Kiinamyllynkatu 4-8, 20520 Turku, Finland. Electronic address: liisa.lehtonen@utu.fi.
³ Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Drammen Hospital, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Norway. Electronic address: btandb@vestreviken.no.
⁴ Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University Children's Hospital, SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: erik.normann@kbh.uu.se.
⁵ Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University Children's Hospital, SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: uwe.ewald@kbh.uu.se.
⁶ Hospital Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Dept. of Pediatrics, O'Donnell 50, 28009 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: sylvia.caballero@salud.madrid.org.
⁷ Tartu University Hospital and University of Tartu, Department of Pediatrics, N. Lunini 6, 51014 Tartu, Estonia. Electronic address: Heili.Varendi@kliinikum.ee.
⁸ Tallinn Children's Hospital, Clinic of Pediatrics, Tervise 28, 13619 Tallinn, Estonia; University of Tartu, Department of Pediatrics, Lunini 6, 51014, Tartu, Estonia. Electronic address: liis.toome@lastehaigla.ee.
⁹ University Hospital North Norway, N-9038 Tromsø, Norway. Electronic address: marianne.nordhov@unn.no.
¹⁰ Department of Neonatology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: boubou.hallberg@ki.se.
¹¹ Department Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: bjorn.westrup@karolinska.se.
¹² Centre for the at-Risk Infant, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Via Don L. Monza 20, 23842 Bosisio Parini, LC, Italy. Electronic address: rosario.montirosso@bp.lnf.it.
¹³ Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland. Electronic address: anmaax@utu.fi.

PMID: 27720034
DOI: 10.1016/j.aucc.2016.09.003

Abstract

Background: Family-centred care (FCC) is a state-of-the-art practice in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) based on its shown benefits on the well-being of both infants and parents. However, there is no systematic knowledge about how FCC is implemented in different European contexts.

Objectives: To describe parents' presence and the quality of FCC from the perspectives of mothers, fathers and nurses in 11 European NICUs.

Methods: A prospective survey was conducted in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Spain and Italy. The perceived quality of FCC was measured using 8 text-message questions sent to the parents' mobile phones, one question each day, during the infant's hospital stay. Nurses answered corresponding questions through a Web questionnaire during a 3-month period. The responses were rated on a 7-point Likert scale. Parents who were not present in the unit during the day used a "0" response.

Results: A total of 262 families of preterm infants born before 35 gestational weeks participated in the study. Mothers gave 5045 responses, fathers gave 3971 responses and nurses gave 11,132 answers. The mothers were present during 92.7% and the fathers during 77.9% of the study days. The mothers rated the quality of FCC slightly higher than the fathers did (5.8 [95% CI 5.7-5.9] vs. 5.7 [95% CI 5.6-5.8], mean difference of 0.12 [95% CI 0.05-0.2], p<0.001). There was wide variation in the parents' presence and the quality of FCC between the units. The weakest aspects of FCC were emotional support, parents' participation in decision-making and fathers' participation in infant care. The perceived quality of FCC between the nurses and parents were comparable.

Conclusions: This study showed a high perceived quality of FCC in 11 European units, as indicated by both parents and nurses. The innovative data-collection method and instrument successfully quantified each unit's FCC profile for further quality improvement and should be trialled in other NICUs and countries.

Keywords: Father; Infant; Intensive care units; Mother; Neonatal; Nursing care; Premature.

Publication types

Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

Europe
Female
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal / standards*
Male
Nursing Staff, Hospital / psychology*
Parents / psychology*
Prospective Studies
Quality of Health Care*
Text Messaging