title: Reconceptualizing the nurse's role in the newborn period as an "attacher".
abstract: In the first few days and weeks after a child's birth, attachment is a major task for the mother and her newborn. Success in this long-term psychological process is associated with positive life-long outcomes for both the parenting mother and her child. This article proposes a relational approach to newborn nursing grounded in the principles of attachment theory. Understanding this "attacher" approach can benefit nurses by bringing a gratifying depth to their practice and can benefit families by helping mothers and newborns address the most compelling task before them.
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital, Boston, USA. donna.karl@childrens.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Donna J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Karl
authors.forename: Judy A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Beal
authors.forename: Cynthia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: O'Hare
authors.forename: Patricia N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Rissmiller
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003448:Crying; D003463:Cues; D004645:Empathy; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007224:Infant Care; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D016294:Models, Nursing; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D017283:Neonatal Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D011340:Problem Solving; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012386:Rooming-in Care / Q000523:psychology; D012944:Social Support