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

Abstract

This study sought to determine whether NICU staff would demonstrate improved knowledge and attitudes about their ability to provide psychosocial support to parents as a result of taking an online education course. This was a time series pre–posttest comparison of responses provided to a 33-item survey among NICU staff before and after taking an online education course on providing psychosocial support to parents. Content in the 7-hr course covered the categories as described in the article “Interdisciplinary Recommendations for the Psychosocial Support of NICU Parents”. Two NICUs participated in this project: St. John’s Regional Medical Center (SJRMC), a 16-bed Level III community NICU with 250 admissions annually, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), a Level IV academic NICU with 102 beds. Staff at both NICUs, including nurses, were invited to take the online course and participate in the study. Participants provided demographic information, then took a 33-item survey before (pretest) and after (posttest) taking the comprehensive course called “Caring for Babies and Their Families,” using a Likert-type scale of 1–6 (1 = strongly disagree, 6 = strongly agree). Pre- and posttest scores were analyzed using nonparametric paired t tests. Of the 114 staff who registered for the course and provided demographic information, 87.9% were nurses; mean years of NICU service was 9.6. All survey items showed posttest mean scores higher than pretest mean scores; in 30/33 (90.9%) these differences were significant, p < 0.05. Night shift staff and staff with shorter periods of NICU service had lower pretest scores on several items; these differences were eliminated on the posttest. Educational needs for staff were identified on both the pretest and posttest. Ninety percent of participants would recommend the course to their peers. This education course was highly effective in improving staff knowledge and attitudes about how to support NICU parents and in eliminating differences between day and night staff and between those with shorter versus longer periods of service in the NICU. Areas in need of additional education were identified.