title: Parental touch of the neonate: encourage or condemn?
abstract: The available literature regarding parental touch and its use on premature infants indicates differing views on whether touch should be encouraged or condemned. Findings of this literature review indicate that touch can have a detrimental physical effect on the infant, however positive long-term benefits for parent and child. The absence of direct guidelines for nursing staff working in a neonatal intensive care unit make decisions about parental touch difficult. The result from this literature review suggests that guidelines for nursing staff need to be established, so that optimum care is provided for both infant and parent.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McIlduff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D017283:Neonatal Nursing; D009721:Nurse Midwives; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D014110:Touch