Parents in a neonatal unit, good idea?

A new study research a new model that doesn't increase parental stress generated by the baby's income and that professional satisfaction is improved compared with the traditional round model (TR).

The hypothesis of our study was that the implementation of the new round model based on family-centered care in the NICU, the adapted family-centered care model (AFCR), does not decrease parents' satisfaction, doesn't increase parental stress generated by the baby's income and that professional satisfaction is improved compared with the traditional round model (TR).

The admission of a critically ill newborn is a stressful event. The stress experienced by parents impairs their abilities to interact optimally with their infants and may lead to poorer child developmental outcomes. The major concerns of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) parents during this stressful time are their informational needs, their parent–child role development, stress and coping, and social support. The family-centered care has become the standard care model in Neonatology. This care approach emerged with the intent to strengthen the health-care provider–parent relationship, decrease patients' and parents' stress, and enhance medical decision making. One highly recommended suggestions for supporting parents' role as caregivers is the parents' participation in medical rounds.

Highlights

•  Parents didn’t feel more stress or less satisfaction when they participated in medical rounds.
•  Professionals didn’t perceive less teaching or more inhibition in the discussion when parents participated in clinical rounds.
•  The parents more stressed by alarms of intensive unit preferred to participate in the rounds.
•  The utility for parent involvement in clinical rounds was perceived more useful by parents than by professionals.

In conclusion, the implementation of a round model with parental participation in a Spanish neonatal unit was not found to increase parental stress and to not decrease familiar satisfaction. This practice increases professional satisfaction and it does not lead to perceive increased to the clinical discussion or decreased teaching during rounds. For parents who experienced greater stressed by the sounds and alarms of the unit, participation in medical rounds was preferred.

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