The Views of Parents of Premature Babies Hospitalized in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit about the Implementation of Family-Centered Care in This Unit

Family-centered care is a new healthcare standard that allows parents to be involved in their baby's healthcare. Considering that parents play an important role in caring for the baby in the hospital as well as at home after discharge, family-oriented care is always emphasized. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the viewpoint of parents of newborns hospitalized in neonatal special care unit about the implementation of family-oriented care in this unit.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 mothers and fathers of newborns hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of selected hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran. After obtaining informed consent, the researcher completed the questionnaires in a period of three months by explaining the objectives of the research as well as family-oriented care in groups and individually. The demographic information of the parents and the newborn was collected and analyzed using a researcher-made questionnaire to examine the views of the parents in different areas about the implementation of family-centered care in the neonatal special care unit.

The mean score of the questionnaires for the mothers of babies was 172.7±19.8 and the mean score of the questionnaires for the fathers was 152.5±30.9. In the area of education and information provision, the mean score of mothers was 49±3.5 and the mean score of fathers was 42.6±3.5; mothers score was significantly higher than that of fathers (p<0.001). In the area of respect for parents' rights, the mean score of fathers was 16.7±1.6 and the mean score of mothers was 11.3±5.8; in this area, the mean score of fathers was significantly higher than the score of mothers (p<0.001). In other areas, there was no statistically significant difference between the views of fathers and mothers.

The view of fathers and mothers in the field of family-centered care in special care units for newborns has been positive and satisfactory. This shows the necessity of different programs in order to improve the views of fathers and mothers.