Partnerships between mothers and professionals in the NICU: caregiving, information exchange, and relationships.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the perspectives of mothers, nurses, and neonatologists on the importance and implementation of NICU practices related to caregiving, information exchange, and relationships within the context of family-centered care.


METHODS
This study design was descriptive. The PARTNERS Questionnaire was developed and implemented, including both quantitative and qualitative items in the three areas (caregiving, information exchange, relationships). For the parent participants, it was a retrospective study.


METHODS
Two hundred fifteen questionnaires were distributed to professionals and 157 questionnaires were mailed to mothers of NICU graduates. A total of 196 questionnaires (53 percent) was returned (55 mothers, 18 neonatologists, and 123 nurses).


RESULTS
Ratings of importance to the respondent and ratings of degree of implementation of items in the three areas were uniformly high. Mothers and nurses had significantly higher ratings than neonatologists in implementation of caregiving. In addition, mothers and nurses rated importance higher than implementation for the areas of information exchange and relationships.
Bruns
Deborah A
DA
EDcetera Consulting, 2515 Brett Court, Champaign, IL 61821, USA. EDcetera@Bruns.com
McCollum
Jeanette A
JA
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008427:Maternal Health Services; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D009359:Neonatology; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012944:Social Support; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires