Parental presence when their child is in neonatal intensive care

Background and aim: When a newborn baby needs care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the parents are welcome to stay with their child whenever they wish. The aim of the present study was to investigate the time per day parents are present together with their child at the NICU and to identify factors that facilitated and obstructed their presence. Methods: In a descriptive study 67 parents of 42 children from two NICUs registered all time they spent at the NICU and then took part in a structured interview. Findings: Parental presence at NICUs varied depending on types of accommodation offered. Those who stayed in parent rooms at the units showed a significantly higher presence with their children than parents who stayed at family hotel, at home or on a maternity ward. Factors that motivated parental presence were primarily the willingness to take parental responsibility, the child's condition requiring it, and the want to have control. Good treatment by the staff, a family-friendly environment and high quality care were main facilitating factors for parents to be present at the NICU. Obstructing factors were primarily ill health by parents, a non-family-friendly environment, care of the home and of children at home. Conclusions: The result shows that there is a need to develop a family-friendly environment that provides optimal conditions for parents to be with their child in a NICU and to consider the parent's own reason for being or not being present.