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Review
. 2022 Sep;181(9):3545-3548.
doi: 10.1007/s00431-022-04553-1. Epub 2022 Jul 8.

Caring for our caretakers: building resiliency in NICU parents and staff

Victoria A Grunberg  1   2 , Ana-Maria Vranceanu  3 , Paul H Lerou  4
Affiliations
Review

Caring for our caretakers: building resiliency in NICU parents and staff

Victoria A Grunberg et al. Eur J Pediatr. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a high-acuity, stressful unit for both parents and staff. Up to 50% of mothers and partners experience emotional distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, or posttraumatic stress) during NICU hospitalization and 30-60% continue to experience distress after discharge. Similarly, up to 50% of NICU staff report burnout and emotional distress. Although healthcare providers have developed interdisciplinary guidelines to enhance psychosocial resources for parents and staff, standardized psychosocial services are lacking. The purpose of this short communication is to describe: (1) the need for psychosocial interventions for NICU parents and staff; (2) existent psychosocial programs and their gaps and limitations; and (3) future directions for psychosocial care in NICU settings. We reviewed the current literature and propose a new conceptual model to inform psychosocial interventions for the NICU. We argue that brief, evidence-based, resiliency, and relationship-based programs are needed to enhance parent and staff outcomes and, ultimately, child development and the NICU unit culture.

Conclusion: Given the lack of standardized psychosocial care, new interventions for NICU families and staff are needed more than ever. Resiliency, relationship-based interventions that leverage multidisciplinary support may be an innovative way to enhance NICU outcomes and care.

What is known: • 40-50% of parents in the NICU report elevated emotional distress and 30-50% of staff report burnout. • Psychosocial interventions for parents and staff are needed, yet lacking.

What is new: • Interventions that focus on resiliency and relationships may improve the culture of the NICU. • New multidisciplinary collaborations and approaches are needed to improve implementation.

Keywords: Neonatal intensive care; Parents; Postpartum; Psychosocial care.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Proposed conceptual clinical-research-trainee model for NICU psychosocial care. Legend: Fig. 1 displays our proposed conceptual model for NICU psychosocial care. We believe that clinical-research-trainee models that focus on building resiliency and relationships within families and staff can positively impact outcomes and the NICU culture
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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