The Development of Data Collection Tools to Measure Parent-Infant Closeness and Family-Centered Care in NICUs.
Anna Axelin, Simo Raiskila, Liisa Lehtonen
PMID 33210818WHAT IT FOUND
Daily parent diaries and text questions tracked parent presence, skin-to-skin contact and family-centered care in 15 NICUs.
Nurse charting missed 12% of skin-to-skin episodes parents reported.
Key findings
01Parent diaries and daily text questions were developed and revised through iterative cycles in 15 NICUs.
02Parents recorded 4,095 diary days in Cycle 3, and 381 days were missed; parents were not in the unit for 238 of those missed days.
03Nurses' documentation missed 12% of skin-to-skin episodes recorded in parental diaries, while parental diaries missed 3% of episodes documented by nurses.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The paper reports tool development and testing, not a test of whether parent-infant closeness or family-centered care changes infant or parent outcomes. The match between parent diaries and nurse documentation was checked in only one unit, and the authors say further checking is needed. The tools need further testing to show whether they measure what they are meant to measure. Response rates declined over time, especially for partners in the text message tool. Nurse response coverage averaged 55% of work shifts, and some duplicate responses were deleted.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that a diary or text question improves infant or parent outcomes. The paper describes and tests measurement tools, not a clinical intervention.