title: Recommendations for mental health professionals in the NICU.
abstract: This article describes recommended activities of social workers, psychologists and psychiatric staff within the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). NICU mental health professionals (NMHPs) should interact with all NICU parents in providing emotional support, screening, education, psychotherapy and teleservices for families. NMHPs should also offer educational and emotional support for the NICU health-care staff. NMHPs should function at all levels of layered care delivered to NICU parents. Methods of screening for emotional distress are described, as well as evidence for the benefits of peer-to-peer support and psychotherapy delivered in the NICU. In the ideal NICU, care for the emotional and educational needs of NICU parents are outcomes equal in importance to the health and development of their babies. Whenever possible, NMHPs should be involved with parents from the antepartum period through after discharge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Hynan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, West Penn Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cicco
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Geller
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lassen
authors.affiliation: Cheryl Milford Consulting, Huntington Beach, CA, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Milford
authors.affiliation: Wisconsin Association for Perinatal Care/Perinatal Foundation, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: K O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Mounts
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saxton
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, and Department of Psychological and Brain Science, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Segre
authors.affiliation: Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stuebe
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D004505:Education, Nonprofessional / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D012944:Social Support