Parental Needs Rating by Parents and Nurses: Association with Illness Severity

Purpose:

This pilot study will use validated questionnaires prospectively to investigate parents’ and nurses’ perceptions of the met or unmet needs of parents with infants born prior to the completion of 32 weeks gestation and investigate the association between parental needs and illness severity in the first 10 days of admission to the NICU.

Methods:

This is a prospective, descriptive-correlational quantitative study that will use validated questionnaires to collect data from parents of preterm infants born before 32 weeks completed gestation during the first 10 days in the NICU and from nurses directly involvement with the family’s care. Demographic data for the nurses, parent-infant dyads and the infant’s health information will be collected. A modified version of two study instruments: NICU Family Needs Inventory (NICU FNI) and the Needs Met Inventory (NMI), each consisting of 56 statements and will be self-administered by participants. The Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology, version II (SNAP-II) will be used as an objective measure of illness severity.

Results:

Results-in-progress. A modified version of the NICU FNI which ranks needs statement in terms of importance, and the NMI which evaluates the extent to which needs are viewed as met will be used to identify and describe parents’ and nurses’ perception met and unmet needs in the NICU. Both instruments assesses parental needs in five categories: support; comfort; information; proximity; and assurance. The SNAP-II measures illness severity by evaluating six empirical physiologic variables within the vital signs and laboratory finding as predictors of morbidity and mortality. 

Conclusion:

No study was found that examined the relationship between met and unmet parental needs and objective measures of the infant’s illness severity from the parents’ and nurses’ perspectives.  Understanding parental needs and perceptions has implications regarding how strategies for information provision, communication and counseling, and parent support programs are developed and implemented to meet the needs of vulnerable infants and their families. This study will generate evidence about and enhance healthcare providers’ knowledge regarding parental needs, priorities, expectations and nurses’ perspective which can optimize the care and support that parents receive. The preterm birth of an infant is life-altering and distressing for parents as the traditional process of transitioning into parenthood is disrupted.  There is a limited number of studies that examine needs and priorities of parents in the NICU.  No study was found that has evaluated the extent to which parental needs are perceived as met or unmet and the association to illness severity.  This study will inform how healthcare providers communicate with, educate and support parents of preterm infants to enhance the families’ health and well-being.