Changes in maternal psychological symptom profiles from 2 to 6 months postpartum: an application of latent transition analysis.

To identify subgroups of postpartum women with different psychological symptom profiles at 2 and 6 months postpartum and to examine how they transition between symptom profiles over time using latent transition analysis (LTA). We used secondary data from the Family Life Project (N = 1,117) and performed LTA based on observed variables (depression, anxiety, somatization, and hostility). We examined transition probabilities and changes in latent status prevalence from 2 to 6 months postpartum. Considering the known influences of social determinants of health on psychological symptoms, bivariate analyses were conducted to describe the characteristics of different transition patterns. A 3-class model with better fit indices, entropy, and interpretability was selected. Based on symptom severity, the identified profiles were Profile 1: Low, Profile 2: Moderate, and Profile 3: High. From 2 to 6 months postpartum, the prevalence of low symptom profile decreased (82 to 78.2%) while the prevalence increased for moderate (15.8 to 17.5%) and high symptom profiles (2.2 to 4.4%). For all profiles, it was most likely for postpartum women to stay in the same profile from 2 to 6 months (low to low, moderate to moderate, and high to high). Those in persistent or worsening transition patterns were significantly younger or had less social support or education. Postpartum women in moderate or high symptom profiles at 2 months were most likely to stay in the same profile at 6 months postpartum, indicating persistent symptom burden. Clinicians should consider providing early, targeted support to prevent persistent symptom burden.

Maternal Psychological Symptom Trajectories From 2 to 24 Months Postpartum: A Latent Class Growth Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Postpartum women experience an array of psychological symptoms that are associated with adverse health behaviors and outcomes including postpartum suicidal ideation and long-term depression. To provide early management of postpartum psychological symptoms, it is important to understand how the symptom experiences change over time. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine maternal psychological symptom trajectories over 2, 6, 15, and 24 months postpartum using latent class growth analysis and to examine how each trajectory is associated with maternal depression outcome at 24 months. METHODS: We used secondary data from the Family Life Project ( N = 1,122) and performed multitrajectory latent class growth analysis based on four observed symptom variables (depression, anxiety, somatization, and hostility). After the final model was identified, bivariate analyses were conducted to examine the association between each trajectory and (a) individual characteristics and (b) outcome (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CES-D]) variables. RESULTS: A four-class model was selected for the final model because it had better fit indices, entropy, and interpretability. The four symptom trajectories were (a) no symptoms over 24 months, (b) low symptoms over 24 months, (c) moderate symptoms increasing over 15 months, and (d) high symptoms increasing over 24 months. More postpartum women with the trajectory of high symptoms increasing over 24 months (Trajectory 4) were in low economic status (92.16%), unemployed (68.63%), or did not complete 4-year college education (98.04%). Most postpartum women (95.56%) in Trajectory 4 also had higher CES-D cutoff scores, indicating a possible clinical depression at 24 months postpartum. DISCUSSION: Postpartum women who experience increasing symptom trajectories over 15-24 months (Trajectories 3 and 4) could benefit from tailored symptom management interventions provided earlier in the postpartum period to prevent persistent and worsening symptom experiences.

Supporting Disclosure of Unmet Mental Health Needs among Parents of Critically Ill Infants.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize (1) the prevalence of mental health discussion and (2) facilitators of and barriers to parent disclosure of mental health needs to clinicians. STUDY DESIGN: Parents of infants with neurologic conditions in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units participated in a longitudinal decision-making study from 2018 through 2020. Parents completed semi-structured interviews upon enrollment, within 1 week after a conference with providers, at discharge, and 6 months post-discharge. We used a conventional content analysis approach and NVIVO 12 to analyze data related to mental health. RESULTS: We enrolled 61 parents (n = 40 mothers, n = 21 fathers) of 40 infants with neurologic conditions in the intensive care unit. In total, 123 interviews were conducted with 52 of these parents (n = 37 mothers, n = 15 fathers). Over two-thirds of parents (n = 35/52, 67%) discussed their mental health in a total of 61 interviews. We identified two key domains when approaching the data through the lens of mental health: (1) self-reported barriers to communicating mental health needs: parents shared uncertainty about the presence or benefit of support, a perceived lack of mental health resources and emotional support, and concerns about trust; (2) self-reported facilitators and benefits of communicating mental health needs: parents described the value of supportive team members, connecting to peer support, and speaking to a mental health professional or neutral third party. CONCLUSIONS: Parents of critically ill infants are at high risk of unmet mental health needs. Our results highlight modifiable barriers and actionable facilitators to inform interventions to improve mental health support for parents of critically ill infants.

Prognostic Discussion for Infants with Neurologic Conditions: Qualitative Analysis of Family Conferences.

OBJECTIVE: We characterize the content and role of prognostic discussion for infants with neurologic conditions. METHODS: In this descriptive qualitative study, we prospectively enrolled infants (age < 1 year) in the intensive care unit with a neurologic condition anticipated to have ≥1 family conference about prognosis or goals of care. We audiorecorded family conferences as they occurred. We used a rapid-cycle qualitative approach to identify and refine themes. RESULTS: Forty infants and 61 parents were enrolled; 68 family conferences occurred for 24 infants. The majority of infant cases (n = 23/24, 96%) and conferences (n = 64/68, 94%) included discussion of neurologic prognosis. Common infant diagnoses included prematurity (n = 12, 52%), genetic conditions (n = 9, 35%), and brain malformations (n = 7, 30%). We identified 2 themes relating to the characterization of the infant's prognosis: (1) predictions of impairment and (2) rationale for prognostic predictions. We identified 3 themes characterizing the role of prognostic discussion: (1) aligning parent and clinician understanding of infant outcome, (2) influencing decision-making, and (3) preparing for life at home. We identified 2 themes characterizing discussion of prognostic uncertainty: (1) multilayered types of uncertainty and (2) holding space for hope alongside uncertainty. INTERPRETATION: In this cohort of infants with neurologic conditions and their parents, we identified salient themes characterizing the content and role of discussion about neurologic outcome. Our findings highlight that prognostic discussion focuses on anticipated impairments, informs decision-making, and helps families prepare for home life. Future work should characterize whether these findings align with parent preferences for prognostic disclosure. ANN NEUROL 2022;92:699-709.

Exploring Environmental Factors Contributing to Fluid Loss in Diapers Placed in Neonatal Incubators.

PURPOSE: Assessing fluid output for infants in the neonatal intensive care unit is essential to understanding fluid and electrolyte balance. Wet diaper weights are used as standard practice to quantify fluid output; yet, diaper changes are intrusive and physiologically distressing. Less frequent diaper changes may have physiologic benefits but could alter diaper weights following extended intervals. METHODS: This pilot study examined the impact of initial diaper fluid volume, incubator air temperature and humidity, and diaper brand on wet diaper weight over time. Baseline fluid volume was instilled, and then diapers were placed in a neonatal incubator. Wet diaper weight was assessed longitudinally to determine changes in fluid volume over time. A factorial design with repeated measures (baseline, 3 hours, and 6 hours) was used to explore the effects of diaper brand (brand 1 vs brand 2), baseline fluid volume (3 mL vs 5 mL), and incubator temperature (28°C vs 36°C) and humidity (40% vs 80%) on the trajectory of weight in 80 diapers. RESULTS: Wet diaper weight was significantly reduced over 6 hours ( P < .005). However, wet diaper weight increased in 80% humidity, but decreased in the 40% humidity over time ( P < .0001). Baseline fluid volume, incubator temperature, and diaper brand did not influence wet diaper weight over time (all P > .05). IMPLICATIONS: Understanding environmental factors that influence the trajectory of wet diaper weight may support clinicians in optimizing the interval for neonatal diaper changes to balance the impact of intrusive care with need to understand fluid volume loss.

Exploring phenotype-based ventilator parameter optimization to mitigate postoperative pulmonary complications: a retrospective observational cohort study.

PURPOSE: To identify tidal volume (VT) and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) associated with the lowest incidence and severity of postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) for each phenotype based on preoperative characteristics. METHODS: The subjects of this retrospective observational cohort study were 34,910 adults who underwent surgery, using general anesthesia with mechanical ventilation. Initially, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression was employed to select relevant preoperative characteristics. Then, the classification and regression tree (CART) was built to identify phenotypes. Finally, we computed the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves from logistic regressions to identify VT and PEEP associated with the lowest incidence and severity of PPCs for each phenotype. RESULTS: CARTs classified seven phenotypes for each outcome. A probability of the development of PPCs ranged from the lowest (3.51%) to the highest (68.57%), whereas the probability of the development of the highest level of PPC severity ranged from 3.3% to 91.0%. Across all phenotypes, the VT and PEEP associated with the most desirable outcomes were within a small range of VT 7-8 ml/kg predicted body weight with PEEP of between 6 and 8 cmH2O. CONCLUSIONS: The ranges of optimal VT and PEEP were small, regardless of the phenotypes, which had a wide range of risk profiles.

Parental presence, participation, and engagement in paediatric hospital care: A conceptual delineation.

AIM: To delineate between the concepts of parental presence, participation, and engagement in paediatric hospital care. DESIGN: The concepts' uses in the literature were analysed to determine attributes, influences, and relationships. METHODS: Delineations of each concept are established and conceptual definitions are proposed following Morses' methods. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE (PubMed); CINAHL, PsycINFO, Sociology Source Ultimate (EBSCOhost); Embase, Scopus (Elsevier); Google Scholar. Search dates October 2021, February 2023. RESULTS: Multinational publications dated 1991-2023 revealed these concepts represent a range of parental behaviours, beliefs, and actions, which are not always perceptible to nurses, but which are important in family-integrated care delivery. Parental presence is the state of a parent being physically and/or emotionally with their child. Parental participation reflects parents' performing caregiving activities with or without nurses. Parental engagement is a parents' state of emotional involvement in their child's health and the ways they act on their child's behalf. CONCLUSION: These concepts' manifestations are important to parental role attainment but may be inadequately understood and considered by healthcare providers. IMPLICATIONS: Nurses have influence over parents' parental presence, participation, and engagement in their child's care but need support from healthcare institutions to ensure equitable family-integrated care delivery. IMPACT: Problem: Lack of clear definition among these concepts results in incomplete and at times inequitable family-integrated care delivery. FINDINGS: Parental presence is an antecedent to parental participation, and parental presence and participation are elements of parental engagement. The concepts interact to influence one another. IMPACT: Hospitalized children, their families, nurses, and researchers will benefit through a better understanding of the concepts' attributes, interactions, and implications for enhanced family-integrated care delivery.

Identification of postpartum symptom subgroups and associated long-term maternal depressive symptoms and well-being.

Many postpartum women experience postpartum symptoms which often occur in clusters (i.e., three or more co-occurring symptoms that are related to each other). To date, research has focused on individual symptoms, which limits our understanding of how postpartum symptom clusters manifest and influence health. This secondary analysis used the Community and Child Health Network study data (N = 1784). No patient or public directly participated or contributed to the current analysis. Guided by the Symptom Management Theory, latent class analysis was performed to identify subgroups of postpartum women with different symptom experiences using observed variables at 6 months postpartum: anxiety (MINI-anxiety), general stress (PSS-10), posttraumatic stress (PCL-C), postpartum depression (EPDS), sleep disturbance (PSQI-sleep disturbance), and sleep duration (PSQI-sleep duration). Bivariate and multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between subgroups and (a) individual characteristics and (b) long-term depressive symptoms (CES-D-9) and well-being at 18 and/or 24 months postpartum. Five subgroups were selected that had better-fit indices, entropy, and interpretability. Subgroups were labeled as (1) Minimum overall, (2) Mild-moderate overall, (3) Moderate-high sleep symptoms, (4) High psychological symptoms, and (5) High overall. After adjusting for covariates, postpartum women in Subgroups 4 and 5 had higher CES-D-9 scores at 18 and 24 months and lower well-being scores at 24 months. More postpartum women in Subgroups 4 and 5 experienced a history of depression or unemployment. Clinicians should provide targeted interventions for postpartum women in high-symptom subgroups.

Postpartum symptom clusters in birthing individuals: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Birthing individuals experience various postpartum symptoms which have been associated with adverse health outcomes. Previous systematic reviews have focused on the examination of individual symptoms and their impact on health, which have limited our understanding of postpartum symptom clusters. OBJECTIVE: To examine the compositions of symptom clusters, analytic methodologies and predictors of symptom clusters in birthing individuals up to 1 year postpartum. DESIGN: Systematic review. METHODS: This systematic review was reported following the PRISMA. Five databases were searched: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL Complete, PsycINFO and Scopus. Two reviewers performed title and abstract and full-text screening independently. Standard Quality Assessment Criteria were used to assess the articles' qualities. Key information was extracted into evidence table, which was checked for accuracy and completeness. A narrative synthesis was conducted. RESULTS: A total of 30 articles were included. Studies were conducted in 16 countries, mostly in Europe (n = 9) and North America (n = 7). The majority were quantitative (n = 27) and cross-sectional (n = 27). Factor analysis was the most frequently used analytic methodology (n = 21). All three qualitative studies used grounded theory. Taking into consideration the variations among the studies, stress (n = 15, infant or partner-related and from other sources), depression (n = 12), somatic (n = 12) and anxiety clusters (n = 10) were most frequently identified. Symptom cluster predictors were examined in less than half of the included studies (n = 13). Among these, most were focused on how individual postpartum symptoms influence symptom clusters. CONCLUSIONS: Stress, depression, somatic and anxiety clusters are the most frequently identified postpartum symptom clusters. Future studies should examine the consistency, stability and clinical meaningfulness of these four symptom clusters. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The identification and management of the four symptom clusters should be of particular interest to clinicians and researchers. NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: This systematic review did not directly involve patient or public contribution to the manuscript.

Challenges and coping between parents in shared decision-making for children with complex, life-threatening conditions: A qualitative content analysis.

BACKGROUND & PURPOSE: Relatively little is known about the parents' challenges and coping in making decisions for children with complex, life-threatening conditions. Therefore, this secondary analysis aimed to explore the challenges and coping between parents while navigating their decision-making by focusing on their interpersonal relationship. DESIGN & METHOD: Data from 38 interviews with parent couples of 20 infants diagnosed with congenital heart disease or receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) were analyzed using a conventional content analysis. RESULTS: Findings revealed the key challenges between parents in decision-making and how they cope with the challenges together as represented by two main themes of "Challenges faced by parents in making decisions together" and "Parents' collaborative coping with the challenges of making shared decisions." DISCUSSION: The majority of challenges that parents face in making decisions were closely related to the nature of the children's complex and life-threatening illness and uncertainty. However, supportive partner helped coping and decision-making, indicating the vital role of spouses in making decisions for their ill child. IMPLICATIONS: Assessing parents' marital relationship, providing enough information to ensure that both parents clearly understand the information, and encouraging parents to openly communicate with each other are recommended. Educating healthcare providers to support parents to partner together in shared decision-making is also required. Last, legislating laws that mandate providing psychological counseling services and developments of community-based interventions to support parental relationship would improve parents' shared decision-making. Further research on enhancing parental relationships in the context of a child's illness is required.

Decisional Satisfaction, Regret, and Conflict Among Parents of Infants with Neurologic Conditions.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize decisional satisfaction, regret, and conflict among parents of critically ill infants with neurologic conditions. STUDY DESIGN: In this prospective cohort study, we enrolled parents of infants with neurologic conditions in the intensive care unit (ICU). Hospital discharge surveys included the validated Family Satisfaction with the ICU (FS-ICU) decision making subscale, Decision Regret Scale (DRS), and Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS). We defined high satisfaction with decision making as an FS-ICU score ≥75, high decisional regret/conflict as DRS/DCS score >25, and within-couple disagreement as a difference of at least 25 points between scores. RESULTS: We enrolled 61 parents of 40 infants (n = 40 mothers, n = 21 fathers); 35 mothers and 15 fathers completed surveys. Most mothers reported high satisfaction with decision making (27 of 35; 77%) and low decision regret (28 of 35; 80%); 40% (14 of 35) reported high decisional conflict. Mothers and fathers reported higher decisional conflict in the domains of uncertainty and values clarity compared with the domain of effective decision making (Bonferroni-corrected P < .05). There were no differences in decision outcomes between paired mothers and fathers; however, within any given couple, there were numerous instances of disagreement (7 of 15 for decision regret and 5 of 15 for decisional conflict). CONCLUSIONS: Many parents experience decisional conflict even if they ultimately have high satisfaction and low regret, underscoring the need for decision aids targeting uncertainty and values clarity. Couples frequently experience different levels of decisional regret and conflict.

Development of a Novel Assessment Tool and Code Sepsis Checklist for Neonatal Late-Onset Sepsis.

BACKGROUND: Accurate diagnosis and timely management of neonatal late-onset sepsis (nLOS) have been less well-studied than those of early-onset sepsis. We noticed a delay in nLOS detection and management in our neonatal intensive care unit. PURPOSE: To develop an assessment tool to aid in the recognition and reporting of nLOS and to standardize the management process once sepsis is recognized. METHODS: The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) improvement model provided the framework for interventions for our antibiotic stewardship program, including the aims of this project. A literature review was performed to evaluate tools and other literature available to guide the evaluation and management of suspected sepsis. A quality improvement project was initiated to develop tools for the detection and management of nLOS. RESULTS: An nLOS assessment tool to help identify neonates at risk for nLOS and a Code Sepsis checklist to standardize the process of evaluation and management of nLOS were developed. The guiding principles of this tool development were empowerment of nurses to initiate the assessment process, clarification of team roles, and removal of barriers to appropriate antibiotic administration. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Useful and practical tools valued by nursing and the multidisciplinary team may facilitate timely identification and treatment of infants with nLOS. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Future directions include validation of the nLOS assessment tool and the Code Sepsis checklist as well as ensuring the reliability of the tool to improve detection of nLOS and to reduce time to administer antibiotics in cases of nLOS.

Experiences of Malawian Mothers During Their Infants' Hospitalization.

BACKGROUND: Hospitalization of a newborn infant is stressful for all mothers. Hospitals in Malawi have limited nursing staff and support, so mothers are the primary care providers for their hospitalized infants. Few studies have explored the experience of these mothers as both care providers and mothers. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of mothers during the hospitalization of the infant. The goal was to increase knowledge of their primary concerns about the hospital stay. METHODS: This was a descriptive qualitative study conducted at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Malawi. Mothers were interviewed prior to their infant's discharge. We used the directed content analysis approach to analyze our data. RESULTS: Twenty mothers of preterm or full-term infants were interviewed. The primary concerns were perinatal experiences, the infant's condition and care including breastfeeding, support from family members, and support and care from healthcare providers. Additionally, mothers of preterm infants were concerned about the burdens of kangaroo mother care. IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE: In hospitals that provide limited nursing support to mothers and their infants, it is important to identify a support system for the mother and provide mothers with information on infant care. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Future research should identify specific supports and resources in the community and hospital settings that are associated with positive hospital experiences.

The Role of Family Members in Providing Support For Malawian Women With Preterm Infants During Infant Hospitalization.

Purpose: Family support is essential for women with preterm infants during hospitalization. In low-income countries, the additional burden of infant care due to shortages in nursing staff necessitates that family members (guardians) be physically present to care for woman and the infant. The purpose of this study was to explore the types of support that Malawian women of preterm infants need during hospitalization. Methods: This descriptive qualitative study was conducted at a tertiary level hospital in southern Malawi. We recruited 15 women with preterm infants during hospitalization and conducted in-depth interviews. Data was audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using NVivo. Results: The postpartum women participating this study preferred females and members of the maternal side of their family for guardians. Participants' support needs included physical, financial, emotional, and spiritual support. Barriers such as financial constraints and the lack of accommodations for guardians had left the participants without support persons physically present to help them.

Protocol for implementation of an evidence based parentally administered intervention for preterm infants.

BACKGROUND: Multi-sensory behavioral interventions for preterm infants have the potential to accelerate feeding, growth, and optimize developmental trajectories and increase parents' interactive engagement with their infants. However, few neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) provide evidence-based standardized early behavioral interventions as routine care. Lack of implementation is a major gap between research and clinical practice. H-HOPE, is a standardized behavioral intervention with an infant- directed component (Massage+) and a parent-directed component (four participatory guidance sessions that focus on preterm infants' behaviors and appropriate responses). H-HOPE has well documented efficacy. The purpose of this implementation study is to establish H-HOPE as the standard of care in 5 NICUs. METHODS: The study employs a Type 3 Hybrid design to simultaneously examine the implementation process and effectiveness in five NICUs. To stagger implementation across the clinical sites, we use an incomplete stepped wedge design. The five participating NICUs were purposively selected to represent different acuity levels, number of beds, locations and populations served. Our implementation strategy integrates our experience conducting H-HOPE and a well-established implementation model, the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). The CFIR identifies influences (facilitators and barriers) that affect successful implementation within five domains: intervention characteristics, outer setting (the hospital and external events and stakeholders), inner setting (NICU), implementers' individual characteristics, and the implementation process. NICUs will use the CFIR process, which includes three phases: Planning and Engaging, Executing, and Reflecting and Evaluating. Because sustaining is a critical goal of implementation, we modify the CFIR implementation process by adding a final phase of Sustaining. DISCUSSION: This study builds on the CFIR, adding Sustaining H-HOPE to observe what happens when sites begin to maintain implementation without outside support, and extends its use to the NICU acute care setting. Our mixed methods analysis systematically identifies key facilitators and barriers of implementation success and effectiveness across the five domains of the CFIR. Long term benefits have not yet been studied but may include substantial health and developmental outcomes for infants, more optimal parent-child relationships, reduced stress and costs for families, and substantial indirect societal benefits including reduced health care and special education costs. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov registration number NCT04555590 , Registered on 8/19/2020.

Inpatient Unit Leaders' Perspectives on Parent Engagement in Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care: A Secondary, Qualitative Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Hospital unit leaders help set the unit's priorities and are responsible for guiding the unit mission and philosophy of care; however, the perspective of leaders in facilitating parent engagement within intensive care units is limited. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore how medical and nursing unit leaders facilitate parent engagement in intensive care settings. METHODS: Qualitative secondary analysis of 16 semistructured interviews of unit leadership (medical directors and nurse managers). Directed content analysis explored themes within the interviews using systematic strategies to ensure rigor. FINDINGS: Unit leadership described 3 main features of care delivery necessary for supporting parent engagement: (1) culture of care, (2) relationships in care, and (3) environment of care. Communication among providers and parents and timing of decision-making were key areas addressed, along with concerns about physical space limiting parent engagement. Unit leaders discussed how the 3 main features (unit culture, relationships, and physical space) of care delivery were interconnected to optimize parent engagement. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Overall, unit leaders recognized the importance of each feature of care delivery in facilitating engagement. Parent engagement is ultimately influenced by the optimization of delivering inclusive care: the physical space, the policies surrounding medical and nursing care, and the overall culture of the unit. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Future research needs to explore best practices around relationship building and managing space limitations. Further clarification of the needs and expectations of both parents and providers surrounding parent engagement in intensive care settings is needed.

Patterns of Parenting Confidence Among Infants With Medical Complexity: A Mixed-Methods Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Parenting confidence is an important factor in fostering optimal health and development of infants with medical complexity. However, our understanding of how parents of medically complex infants describe development of confidence is limited. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to describe the nature and development of parenting confidence. METHODS: A mixed-method design was used to examine how parents described their level of confidence. Ten parents of infants with medical complexity. Quantitative measures provided patterns of confidence and qualitative data focused on parent descriptions of confidence. Parents completed online surveys at 3 time points: (1) study enrollment, (2) infant discharge from hospital, and (3) 3 months after discharge. Parents were purposively sampled, using their confidence patterns, for qualitative phone interviews. RESULTS: Our analysis of quantitative findings revealed 3 confidence patterns: (1) increasing, (2) stable, and (3) varying. Parents described their confidence as either (1) a state of being confident or (2) how they behaved in the parenting role. Parents felt both certain and uncertain in their level of confidence and described confidence as being situationally dependent. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Parenting confidence needs to be cultivated through encouragement and repeated exposure to parenting behaviors. Nurses are well-suited to help identify parents with low confidence to support parents so that they can develop confidence. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Because there is variability in parent confidence during this critical early period of life, future research should consider a larger cohort of parents that compares confidence in diverse parent groups (ie, married vs living together couples, same-sex couples, and single parents). Research should also examine effective strategies to promote confidence and associated long-term health and developmental outcomes.

Multiple Roles of Parental Caregivers of Children with Complex Life-Threatening Conditions: A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis.

PURPOSE: Children born with Complex Life-Threatening Conditions (CLTCs) often require complex and specialized services. Parents of children with CLTCs balance the role of caregiver with other responsibilities of employment, education, relationships, and self-care. The purpose of this paper is to describe the challenges for parents serving as caregivers of children with CLTCs and their intersection with health care provider expectations through utilization and adaptation of the role theory framework. DESIGN/METHODS: We employed a qualitative descriptive design, secondary analysis of a longitudinal study on parent and provider decision making for children with CLTC. There were 218 interviews from sixty-one parents of 35 infants with prematurity, bone marrow transplant, and/or complex cardiac disease, followed for one year unless death occurred. Content analysis and thematic generation were performed capturing the various parental roles embedded within provider expectations of informal parental caregiving. RESULTS: Results showed that parents of children with CLTCs serve multidimensional roles, including that of informal nurse and care coordinator, while maintaining additional personal roles as parent and family provider. Parents experienced challenges as caregivers that were shaped by perceived expectations of health care providers as well as lack of support, often leading to role strain, conflict, overload, and sometimes exit. CONCLUSIONS: Parents of children with CLTCs experience both common and unique challenges inn balancing multiple roles as an informal caregiver. Despite utilizing positive coping mechanisms, their status as parent caregiver carries significant risk for role strain and overload. We recommend the implementation of strategies for increasing parental support and family-centered care.

A Quality Improvement Project to Increase Frequency of Skin-to-Skin Contact for Extreme Low-Birth-Weight Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Benefits of skin-to-skin contact (SSC) are documented but often delayed in the extremely preterm population due to medical complexity and staff misconceptions about safety. This quality improvement initiative was designed to increase SSC utilization among infants born before 29 weeks' gestation regardless of respiratory support by addressing nursing barriers inhibiting SSC. A pre-/postsurvey evaluated comfort level performing and perceived barriers to SSC utilization. Implementation consisted of an updated unit-specific SSC protocol and tailored education specific to identified barriers. Evaluation included SSC rates and maternal human milk usage in the first 30 days of life. In total, 81 patients (22-28 weeks, 370-1410 g) were included. SSC rates ranged from 3.3% to 17.7% at baseline and increased to 33.2% to 39.1% postintervention. Maternal human milk utilization increased above target (≥75%) postintervention for days 7 and 14, but declined towards baseline on days 21 and 30. A statistically significant increase was observed in nursing comfort level when performing SSC for intubated infants as well as infants with a peripherally inserted central catheter or umbilical venous catheter. SSC rates increased with infants younger than 29 weeks requiring intubation and central line management, possibly as a result of greater nursing comfort surrounding with SSC.

Parenting Self-Efficacy in Fathers of Medically Complex Infants: A Longitudinal Study.

INTRODUCTION: Infants with medical complexity are have multiple chronic conditions and require specialized intensive care. One important factor in optimizing infant health and development is parenting self-efficacy (PSE). The purpose of this study was to examine parental self-efficacy in fathers over time. METHODS: A longitudinal survey study was conducted with fathers of medically complex infants. We used the validated Karitane Parent Confidence Scale to assess PSE and multivariable linear regression examined the associations between father and infant characteristics on PSE. RESULTS: Fathers (n=27) were white (74%), married (85%), high school educated (37%), with incomes ≥ $US50,000 (66%). Father's mean PSE score was 39.28 (±3.9). Hispanic ethnicity and total number of chronic conditions were significant predictors of lower PSE in fathers (p < .03). CONCLUSIONS: Fathers of medically complex infants reported low PSE. More strategic interventions need to focus on self-efficacy and creating opportunities for connection between fathers and infants.