Características institucionales y familiares que condicionan la participación de los padres en el cuidado de los recién nacidos hospitalizados en la unidad de terapia intensiva neonatal

Abstract

Objective: To describe the institutional and family characteristics which conditioned the parents’ involvement in the care of hospitalized newborns in the NICU. Materials and Methods: Participants: fathers and mothers who frequent the NICU at the HMN and/or anyother relative or person authorized to take care of the newborn. Data collection method: Semi open-ended questionnaire. Results: The percentage that participated was 81% leaving a 19% of
non-participants. 56% of participants spent between 15 and 35 hours in the study. The motherinfant bonding conditioned the participation positively (p=0,03). The negative predominant conditioning institutional causes were the family non-inclusion (82%), insufficient promotion of physical contact with the baby (37%) and the uncomfortable physical space (29%). The inherent reasons of the caregiver which negatively affected its care participation were the intense suffering due to the child’s hospitalization (87%), the fear of the disease (68%) and the care of other children (55%). What caregivers feared  the most was the potential development of a disease in the child rather than the NICU itself (68/43%). Conclusion: The mother is the main figure which participates positively in the hospitalized newborns’ care. Regardless of the negative conditionings, the number of persons who participated was greater than the one that did not. Nevertheless, it is suggested that the intervention protocols about the approach to the patient and their family be reviewed in order to create a support network together with attitudinal changes which reduce the negative conditionings and encourage the person’s ability to be resilient.