Family-Centred Care Rounds in a Neonatal Intensive Care Setting: An Implementation Sciences Feasibility Study.

Only seven parents provided complete data, and they were five mothers and two fathers from European countries, so the parent findings cannot be generalised to other NICU populations. The study was a single-site pre-test post-test feasibility study with no control group, so observed changes cannot be confidently attributed to the rounds, which were delivered alongside staff e-learning, nurse preparation, a modified I-SBAR tool, and a flexible bedside or nursing-desk format. Healthcare professionals completing pre and post surveys were not necessarily the same people, and the post-implementation survey went to all 99 NICU staff regardless of whether they took part in the rounds. Some staff had previous family-centred round experience, while others had none, which may have affected collaboration scores. Parental satisfaction was already high before implementation, leaving little room for a measurable improvement. Rounds were observed by four different healthcare professionals, and the observation grid was locally developed and not previously published. A Hawthorne effect may have made participants behave differently because they knew they were being observed. Parental participation was low and variable, so the study mainly shows that the process could be attempted, not that it was consistently delivered.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest and report nothing to disclose regarding funding.

Do not read this as proof that family-centred rounds reduce parental stress or improve teamwork. Total stress and collaboration scores did not improve, and only seven parents provided complete data, so the study shows feasibility, not effectiveness.