Consultation on the medical frontier. A preliminary survey of the attitudes of infant intensive care nurses

Abstract

Advancing medical technology presents problems to medical professionals previously unforeseen. Psychiatric consultants are frequently called upon to assist staff, patients, and families in addressing these issues. The nursing staff of an infant intensive care unit was surveyed as to their perceptions of their work and their coping strategies. The results confirmed that in this technologically novel environment, staff were still attempting to acquire coping strategies to effectively meet demands placed upon them. The present study indicates that consultants need to be cognizant of such concerns to effectively assist such staff.