Improved nurse-parent communication in neonatal intensive care unit: evaluation and adjustment of an implementation strategy.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate and adjust systematic implementation of guided family-centred care in a neonatal intensive care unit.


BACKGROUND
Family-centred care is valued in neonatal intensive care units internationally, but innovative strategies are needed to realise the principles. Guided family-centred care was developed to facilitate person-centred communication by bridging the gap between theory and practice in family-centred care. Main mechanisms of guided family-centred care are structured dialogue, reflection and person-centred communication.


METHODS
Qualitative and quantitative data were used to monitor participatory implementation of a systematic approach to training and certification of nurses delivering guided family-centred care.


METHODS
Systematic implementation of guided family-centred care included workshops, supervised delivery and certification. Evaluation and adjustment of nurse adherence to guided family-centred care was conducted by monitoring (1) knowledge, (2) delivery, (3) practice uptake and (4) certification.


RESULTS
Implementation was improved by the development of a strategic framework and by adjusting the framework according to the real-life context of a busy neonatal care unit. Promoting practice uptake was initially underestimated, but nurse guided family-centred care training was improved by increasing the visibility of the study in the unit, demonstrating intervention progress to the nurses and assuring a sense of ownership among nurse leaders and nonguided-family-centred-care-trained nurses.


CONCLUSIONS
An adjusted framework for guided family-centred care implementation was successful in overcoming barriers and promoting facilitators.


CONCLUSIONS
Insights gained from our pioneering work might help nurses in a similar context to reach their goals of improving family-centred care.
Department of Neonatology, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Janne
J
Weis
Vibeke
V
Zoffmann
Ingrid
I
Egerod
D000328:Adult; D002568:Certification; D003142:Communication; D003718:Denmark; D004493:Education; D022143:Family Nursing; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D057184:Practice Patterns, Nurses'; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation
collaboration; communication; family-centred care; family-centred nursing; fidelity assessment; intervention studies; neonatal intensive care; person-centred communication; process assessment; reliability; validity