title: Parents' experiences of communication with neonatal intensive-care unit staff: an interview study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  An infant's admission to a neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU) inevitably causes the parents emotional stress. Communication between parents and NICU staff is an essential part of the support offered to the parents and can reduce their emotional stress. The aim of this study was to describe parents' experiences of communication with NICU staff.
  
  
  METHODS
  A hermeneutic lifeworld interview study was performed with 18 families whose children were treated in the level III NICU at a university hospital in Sweden. The interviews were analysed to gain an interpretation of the phenomenon of how parents in the NICU experienced their communication with the staff, in order to find new ways to understand their experience.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Parents' experience of communication with the staff during their infant's stay at the NICU can be described by the main theme 'being given attention or ignored in their emotional situation'. The main theme derives from three themes; (1) meeting a fellow human being, (2) being included or excluded as a parent and (3) bearing unwanted responsibility.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that parents experienced communication with the NICU staff as essential to their management of their situation. Attentive communication gives the parents relief in their trying circumstances. In contrast, lack of communication contributes to feelings of loneliness, abandonment and unwanted responsibility, which adds to the burden of an already difficult situation. The level of communication in meetings with staff can have a decisive influence on parents' experiences of the NICU. The staff should thus be reminded of their unique position to help parents handle their emotional difficulties. The organization should facilitate opportunities for good communication between parents and staff through training, staffing and the physical health care environment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Care Sciences, The Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Box 457, Gothenburg, SE 405 30, Sweden. helena.wigert@gu.se.|Division of Neonatology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, 416 85, Sweden. helena.wigert@gu.se.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wigert
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, 416 85, Sweden. michaela.m.blom@vgregion.se.
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dellenmark Blom
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, 416 85, Sweden. kristina.bry@pediat.gu.se.|Department of Pediatrics, The Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, 416 85, Sweden. kristina.bry@pediat.gu.se.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bry
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013548:Sweden