Addressing the Needs of Mothers with Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Secondary Analysis
Purpose: Mothers of infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) need to be recognized as essential partners of the care team as their presence and involvement are key to infants' health and developmental outcomes. Addressing mothers' perceived needs is beneficial for the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Asian Nursing Research |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1976131720300773 |
| _version_ | 1828944214971383808 |
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| author | Ah Rim Kim, Ph.D. |
| author_facet | Ah Rim Kim, Ph.D. |
| author_sort | Ah Rim Kim, Ph.D. |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Purpose: Mothers of infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) need to be recognized as essential partners of the care team as their presence and involvement are key to infants' health and developmental outcomes. Addressing mothers' perceived needs is beneficial for the improvement of supportive nursing care; however, little qualitative research on their unmet needs has been conducted in South Korea. This study assessed mothers' perspectives on their NICU experiences and their unmet needs within the South Korean cultural context. Method: A cross-sectional, multicentered, secondary analysis study was conducted using the written responses to an open-ended questionnaire. Of the 344 NICU-experienced mothers, 232 throughout South Korea (seven cities and five provinces) voluntarily completed the questionnaire via smartphone-based or web-based surveys. Their narrative responses were analyzed using thematic content analysis guided by the critical incident technique. Results: Four themes emerged. NICU-experienced mothers of preterm infants referred to the “family-friendly environment” (16.4%) as a positive experience. The greatest unmet need was “relationship-based support” (58.2%), followed by “information and education-based support” (20.0%) and “system-level challenges” (5.4%). Conclusion: The importance of creating a family-friendly NICU environment should be emphasized by ensuring 24-hour unrestricted access and encouraging active parental involvement in infant care, as well as actively supporting NICU families through supportive words and actions. The assurance of antiinfection management and better staffing levels should be fundamentally guaranteed to NICU staff. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T04:29:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-07cf29215f6944daaa635c9e3a6fb7aa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1976-1317 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T04:29:36Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Asian Nursing Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-07cf29215f6944daaa635c9e3a6fb7aa2022-12-21T23:17:06ZengElsevierAsian Nursing Research1976-13172020-12-01145327337Addressing the Needs of Mothers with Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Secondary AnalysisAh Rim Kim, Ph.D.0Correspondence to: Kim Ah Rim, Ph.D., Department of Nursing, Far East University, 76-32 Daehak-gil, Gamgok-myeon, Eumseong-gun, Chungbuk, 27601, Republic of Korea.; Department of Nursing, Far East University, Chungbuk, Republic of KoreaPurpose: Mothers of infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) need to be recognized as essential partners of the care team as their presence and involvement are key to infants' health and developmental outcomes. Addressing mothers' perceived needs is beneficial for the improvement of supportive nursing care; however, little qualitative research on their unmet needs has been conducted in South Korea. This study assessed mothers' perspectives on their NICU experiences and their unmet needs within the South Korean cultural context. Method: A cross-sectional, multicentered, secondary analysis study was conducted using the written responses to an open-ended questionnaire. Of the 344 NICU-experienced mothers, 232 throughout South Korea (seven cities and five provinces) voluntarily completed the questionnaire via smartphone-based or web-based surveys. Their narrative responses were analyzed using thematic content analysis guided by the critical incident technique. Results: Four themes emerged. NICU-experienced mothers of preterm infants referred to the “family-friendly environment” (16.4%) as a positive experience. The greatest unmet need was “relationship-based support” (58.2%), followed by “information and education-based support” (20.0%) and “system-level challenges” (5.4%). Conclusion: The importance of creating a family-friendly NICU environment should be emphasized by ensuring 24-hour unrestricted access and encouraging active parental involvement in infant care, as well as actively supporting NICU families through supportive words and actions. The assurance of antiinfection management and better staffing levels should be fundamentally guaranteed to NICU staff.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1976131720300773infant, prematureintensive care units, neonatalmothersqualitative researchtask performance and analysis |
| spellingShingle | Ah Rim Kim, Ph.D. Addressing the Needs of Mothers with Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Secondary Analysis Asian Nursing Research infant, premature intensive care units, neonatal mothers qualitative research task performance and analysis |
| title | Addressing the Needs of Mothers with Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Secondary Analysis |
| title_full | Addressing the Needs of Mothers with Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Secondary Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Addressing the Needs of Mothers with Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Secondary Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Addressing the Needs of Mothers with Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Secondary Analysis |
| title_short | Addressing the Needs of Mothers with Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Secondary Analysis |
| title_sort | addressing the needs of mothers with infants in the neonatal intensive care unit a qualitative secondary analysis |
| topic | infant, premature intensive care units, neonatal mothers qualitative research task performance and analysis |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1976131720300773 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ahrimkimphd addressingtheneedsofmotherswithinfantsintheneonatalintensivecareunitaqualitativesecondaryanalysis |