Improving Staff Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Providing Psychosocial Support to NICU Parents Through an Online Education Course.

BACKGROUND: Provider-parent communication is a critical determinant of how neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) parents cope, yet staff feel inadequately trained in communication techniques; many parents are not satisfied with the support they receive from hospital providers. PURPOSE: This study evaluated whether NICU staff would demonstrate improved knowledge and attitudes about providing psychosocial support to parents after taking an online course. METHODS: After providing demographic information, staff at 2 NICUs took a 33-item survey both before and after taking a 7-module online course "Caring for Babies and Their Families," and again at 6-month follow-up. Scores (means ± standard deviation) from all time periods were compared and effect sizes calculated for each of the course modules. RESULTS: NICU staff participants (n = 114) included nurses (88%), social workers (7%), physicians (4%), and occupational therapists (1%). NICU staff showed significant improvement in both knowledge and attitudes in all modules after taking the course, and improvements in all module subscores remained significant at the 6-month follow-up mark. Night staff and staff with less experience had lower pretest scores on several items, which improved on posttest. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This course, developed by an interprofessional group that included graduate NICU parents, was highly effective in improving staff knowledge and attitudes regarding the provision of psychosocial support to NICU parents, and in eliminating differences related to shift worked and duration of work experience in the NICU. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Future research should evaluate course efficacy across NICU disciplines beyond nursing, impact on staff performance, and whether parent satisfaction with care is improved.

Comprehensive NICU Parental Education: Beyond Baby Basics.

Educating NICU families during their child's hospitalization and prior to hospital discharge is an integral task for staff from the moment an infant is admitted to the unit. Staff has the responsibility of providing parents with a myriad of education regarding the intensive care environment and information concerning their child's medical condition. With first-time parents, staff teaching topics extend to also include training on how to perform basic newborn care such as diapering, bathing, feeding, and numerous other primary parenting responsibilities. True comprehensive education, however, should include information about and evidence on the significance of parental self-care in not only their own health and emotional stability but also the cognitive and behavioral development of their child prior to leaving the comfort of their NICU support network. Recommendations for this essential education are presented so NICU providers can best prepare parents for this critical responsibility.

The art of supporting families faced with neonatal transport.

When newborns and their families are separated due to neonatal transport, it's critical to support families to ensure emotional and physical well-being of both babies and parents. Care providers at both sending and receiving facilities play an equally important role in providing education, information and support to families separated from newborns. A family-centered care approach in neonatal transport is truly a multidisciplinary, multiunit and multisystem approach.

Challenges to skin-to-skin kangaroo care: cesarean delivery and critically ill NICU patients.

Although SSC following birth is known to be beneficial for both the mother and the baby, barriers continue to exist following cesarean delivery as well as for critically ill neonates. Neonates are sometimes deprived of this important benefit due to staff anxiety or inexperience. A collaborative approach between perinatal and neonatal team members can effectively introduce the practice as routine in the OB OR and the Level III NICU. Parents are valuable advocates for this essential best practice. Mothers and their offspring benefit both in the short term, as well as long term, when we address the barriers and overcome this clinical challenge.