Abstract
BackgroundAdmission of an infant to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is often a stressful experience for parents and can be associated with feelings of inadequacy to fulfil the desirable parental role. The values, opportunities, integration, control, and evaluation (VOICE) programme was developed to engage parents in care, to decrease stress, and to increase empowerment.AimTo explore the experiences of parents regarding involvement in the VOICE programme during admission of their infant to the NICU.DesignThe VOICE programme includes at least five personal structured meetings between parents, nurses, and other health care professionals throughout the pathway from birth, NICU, and follow up. A qualitative design was adopted using semi‐structured interviews. Interviews with 13 parents of 11 infants born at <27 weeks' gestational age were conducted: nine mothers and two couples of father and mother. Thematic analysis was deployed.ResultsThe findings have been described in one overarching theme: “parental empowerment.” Parents felt strengthened and were empowered in the development of their role as primary caretaker by the VOICE programme. The parental empowerment theme emerged from four related interpretive themes that were derived: (a) involvement in care, (b) personalized information and communication, (c) transition to a parental role, and (d) emotional support.ConclusionThe VOICE programme can be a structured approach used to implement family support in a NICU to empower parents to become a partner in the care of their infant and feel confident.Relevance to clinical practiceThis study encourages health care professionals to provide parental support through a structured intervention programme, which contributes to the empowerment of parents in the NICU and encouraged them to participate in care and decision‐making.
Highlights
Admission of an infant to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is often a stressful experience for parents and can be associated with feelings of inadequacy to fulfil the desirable parental role [1;2]
Newborn Individualized Development Care en Assessment Program (NIDCAP) and Kangaroo care interventions, these programs support parents based on the principles of family centred care (FCC) and family integrated care (FIC), with an emphasis on family support and facilitating parents’ understanding of their child’s developmental and physical care
The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of parents regarding their involvement in the VOICE program, during the period the infants were admitted to the NICU
Summary
Admission of an infant to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is often a stressful experience for parents and can be associated with feelings of inadequacy to fulfil the desirable parental role [1;2]. Melnyk et al describes the COPE program (Creating Opportunities for Parent Empowerment) as standard practice including parents of premature infants, while O’Brien et al developed the Family Integrated Care model in neonatal intensive care [3;5;6;8]. The programs often include parents of premature infants born < 37 weeks of gestational age (GA) and extremely premature infants < 27 weeks of GA [8;9;10;11;12;13] Evaluations of these programs have demonstrated a reduction in parental depression, anxiety and stress, as well as improved parental empowerment, confidence and competence [5;8;13]. The VOICE (Values, Opportunities, Integration, Control, and Evaluation) program was developed to engage parents in care, decrease stress and to increase empowerment
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
