A family-centered "visitation" policy in the neonatal intensive care unit that welcomes parents as partners

Abstract

Parents are important partners in the neonatal intensive care unit, collaborating with staff in caregiving and decision making for their infants. These essential and mutually beneficial partnerships between families and staff are the cornerstone of family-centered care and require that parents are welcomed to be with their baby at any time. This concept is not new and, yet, many neonatal intensive care units continue to have "visitation" policies that restrict parent's access to their infants, failing to recognize parents as partners. Changing the "visitation" policy is part of a welcoming approach in the context of family-centered care. Neonatal intensive care unit nurses may be accustomed to a more strict policy, needing communication tools and strategies to collaborate with parents and implement a family-centered "visitation" or welcoming policy.