Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Apr 6;10(8):e29325.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29325. eCollection 2024 Apr 30.

Nurse-mother communication and support: Perceptions of mothers in neonatal units

Farnoosh Tajik  1   2 , Marzieh Mahmoodi  3 , Parviz Azodi  4 , Faezeh Jahanpour  5
Affiliations

Nurse-mother communication and support: Perceptions of mothers in neonatal units

Farnoosh Tajik et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Introduction: Having a hospitalized neonate is a stressful experience for parents, especially mothers. Thus, in recent years, a paradigm shift occurred in the neonatal units, focusing on the needs of parents and supporting them in addition to caring for neonates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the nurse-mother communication and support in neonatal units in Bushehr, Iran.

Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in neonatal units of 6 hospitals in Bushehr, Iran, in 2022. Using the census method, all eligible mothers who met the inclusion criteria were included in this study. Data collection tools included demographic information form, nurse-parent support tool and nurse-parent communication questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS version 24 using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation test.

Results: The total mean score of nurse-parent support tool was 3.72 ± 0.72 and the total mean score of nurse-parent communication questionnaire was 59/27 ± 12/82. Caregiving support had the highest mean score (4.07 ± 73 0.73) and emotional support had the lowest (3.42 ± 91 0.91). Also, a statistically significant difference was seen between the admitted unit variable and the mean score of nurse-mother communication and support. Additionally, there was a statistically significant difference between the mechanical ventilation status of the neonate and the mean score of nurse-mother support. A significant positive correlation was seen between the neonatal gestational age and the mean score of nurse-mother communication.

Conclusions: The total mean score of nurse-parent support and communication was moderate. Therefore, nursing support and communication need to be improved. Planning is needed to enhance the role of neonatal nurses and strengthen their support and communication skills in line with the family-centered care approach.

Keywords: Communication; Family nursing; Family-centered care; Mothers; Support.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

References

    1. Machado G.C.C., de Carvalho Furtado M.C., Baptista Oliveira N.T., de Jesus Santos J.M., Lima M., Leite A.M. How is the communication of bad news being performed in Neonatal Intensive Care Units and how to improve it: a Scoping Review. J. Neonatal Nurs. 2020;26(5):252–258.
    1. Lundqvist P., Weis J., Sivberg B. Parents' journey caring for a preterm infant until discharge from hospital‐based neonatal home care—a challenging process to cope with. J. Clin. Nurs. 2019;28(15–16):2966–2978. - PubMed
    1. Kynoe N.M., Fugelseth D., Hanssen I. When a common language is missing: nurse–mother communication in the NICU. A qualitative study. J. Clin. Nurs. 2020;29(13–14):2221–2230. - PubMed
    1. Reid S., Bredemeyer S., Chiarella M. Integrative review of parents' perspectives of the nursing role in neonatal family-centered care. J. Obstet. Gynecol. Neonatal Nurs. 2019;48(4):408–417. - PubMed
    1. Petty J., Jarvis J., Thomas R. Understanding parents' emotional experiences for neonatal education: a narrative, interpretive approach. J. Clin. Nurs. 2019;28(9–10):1911–1924. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources