Partnerships Between Mothers and Professionals in the NICU: Caregiving, Information Exchange, and Relationships

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the perspectives of mothers, nurses, and neonatologists on the importance and implementation of NICU practices related to caregiving, information exchange, and relationships within the context of family-centered care.

Design: This study design was descriptive. The PARTNERS Questionnaire was developed and implemented, including both quantitative and qualitative items in the three areas (caregiving, information exchange, relationships). For the parent participants, it was a retrospective study.

Sample: Two hundred fifteen questionnaires were distributed to professionals and 157 questionnaires were mailed to mothers of NICU graduates. A total of 196 questionnaires (53 percent) was returned (55 mothers, 18 neonatologists, and 123 nurses).

Results: Ratings of importance to the respondent and ratings of degree of implementation of items in the three areas were uniformly high. Mothers and nurses had significantly higher ratings than neonatologists in implementation of caregiving. In addition, mothers and nurses rated importance higher than implementation for the areas of information exchange and relationships.