Psychosocial Difficulties Experienced By Parents Of Babies Treated In A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit During The Coronavirus Pandemic.
Asena Taşgıt, Satı Dil
PMID 36428063WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of NICU babies during COVID-19 described anxiety, helplessness and depressive symptoms because they could not touch or visit their infants.
They wanted more information, more contact, and psychosocial support.
Key findings
01All participants reported anxiety, helplessness and symptoms of depression linked to not being able to see or touch their babies.
02The greatest sources of stress were fear of not seeing the baby again and fear of infecting the baby; two in five participants were out of breastmilk, while one in five reported reduced breastmilk levels.
03Spouses were the greatest source of support, and participants expected healthcare professionals to provide more information and allow them to visit their babies more often.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a qualitative study of 20 parents in one Turkish NICU, so it describes experiences rather than measuring how common these problems are or whether support helps. Parents were included only if their baby had been in the NICU for at least two weeks and they spoke Turkish, so it may not apply to shorter stays or other languages and settings. The NICU had a very restrictive visiting policy during the pandemic; parents' experiences may differ where face-to-face contact is allowed. The paper says the data were coded and checked with two experts, but it does not explain how many interviews were enough or how the themes were chosen. The Discussion recommends nurse-led psychosocial support programs, but those are author suggestions, not tested interventions.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the parents' desire for more FaceTime and information as proof that these changes reduce anxiety or improve infant development. This was a small interview study of experiences, not a tested intervention.