Parental Perception of Neonates, Parental Stress and Education for NICU Parents

Purpose The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis between the perception of parents with premature infants in the NICU and parents with full-term newborns, and in the process to evaluate the effects of NICU educational support on parents with regard to their perception of neonate and parental stress. Methods A mixed quantitative design was employed to compare parental perception of neonates using the Neonatal Perception Index (NPI) between the parents of 26 full-term infants (full-term group) and the parents of 22 premature infants in the NICU (NICU group), and also to evaluate the effect of NICU educational support on NPI and parental stress using the Parental Stress Scale (PSS) between the mothers and fathers in the NICU group. Results NICU mothers showed the lowest NPI score among full-term and NICU parents. However, no difference in direction of NPI scores was observed between parents in either the full-term or NICU group. NICU education improved NPI and decreased PSS in fathers but not in mothers. Conclusion Environmental modifications of the nursery setting, particularly its remote location to the NICU, could improve mothers' perception of full-term neonates. NICU mothers, as the principal caregivers, may suffer from culturally-grounded, psychoemotional disturbances after giving birth to a sick infant, which may not be applicable to fathers. The quality of family-centered care in the NICU environment, parental role alteration, and the condition of infants need to be improved to decrease parental stress in the NICU. Fathers may have significant potential in caring for mothers and sick infants during the transition to parenthood. Education for NICU parents should be done for both mothers and fathers in the acute postpartum period. [Asian Nursing Research 2007; 1(3):199-210]