Challenges of Family-Centered Care in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit during the Visitation Restrictions After COVID-19 Pandemic Peak: A Qualitative Study of Parents' and Nurses' Perspectives

Family -centered care is crucial for parent -infant bondin g and collaborative healthcare in neonatal intensive care units. COVID-19 visitation restrictions have hindered this care's e f ectiveness and posed challen g es in Thai units. This study, conducted in a southern Thailand hospital, explored nurses' and parents' perspectives on implementin g family -centered care durin g restricted visitation policies, providin g g lobally applicable insi g hts. An exploratory -descriptive q ualitative approach was used, involvin g semi -structured interviews with ten nurses and ten parents to explore their nuanced perspectives from June to Au g ust 2023. The interviews were conducted face-to-face, individually, usin g a semi -structured interview g uide, and the transcripts were analyzed usin g thematic analysis to identify si g nificant themes. Findin g s from this study comprised five themes: 1) Havin g a mindset to involve parents in care, 2) Parents receivin g psycholo g ical support, 3) Challen g es of communication, 4) Ne g ative impact of restricted visitin g times, and 5) Accommodatin g flexible visitin g hours in exceptional circumstances. Providin g the best possible care for infants re q uires an adaptable and flexible approach to meet each family's uni q ue needs. Additionally, healthcare providers need to explore how they can implement family -centered care e f ectively durin g visitin g restrictions in the NICU in di f erent contexts. Further research is necessary to investi g ate the practical implementation of this by nurses and how hospital administrators can support it in Thai neonatal intensive care units under policies restrictin g family visits.