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Parents and nurses balancing parent-infant closeness and separation: a qualitative study of NICU nurses’ perceptions

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Pediatrics, August 2016
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Title
Parents and nurses balancing parent-infant closeness and separation: a qualitative study of NICU nurses’ perceptions
Published in
BMC Pediatrics, August 2016
DOI 10.1186/s12887-016-0663-1
Pubmed ID
Authors

Nancy Feeley, Christine Genest, Hannakaisa Niela-Vilén, Lyne Charbonneau, Anna Axelin

Abstract

When a newborn requires neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization, parent and infant experience an unusual often prolonged separation. This critical care environment poses challenges to parent-infant closeness. Parents desire physical contact and holding and touching are particularly important. Evidence shows that visitation, holding, talking, and skin to skin contact are associated with better outcomes for infants and parents during hospitalization and beyond. Thus, it would be important to understand closeness in this context. The purpose of this study was to explore from nurses' perspective, what do parents and nurses do to promote parent-infant closeness or provoke separation. Qualitative methods were utilized to attain an understanding of closeness and separation. Following ethics approval, purposive sampling was used to recruit nurses with varying experience working different shifts in NICUs in two countries. Nurses were loaned a smartphone over one work shift to record their thoughts and perceptions of events that occurred or experiences they had that they considered to be closeness or separation between parents and their hospitalized infant. Sample size was determined by saturation (18 Canada, 19 Finland). Audio recordings were subjected to inductive thematic analysis. Team meetings were held to discuss emerging codes, refine categories, and confirm these reflected data from both sites. One overarching theme was elaborated. Balancing closeness and separation was the major theme. Both parents and nurses engaged in actions to optimize closeness. They sought closeness by acting autonomously in infant caregiving, assuming decision-making for their infant, seeking information or skills, and establishing a connection in the face of separation. Parents balanced their desire for closeness with other competing demands, such as their own needs. Nurses balanced infant care needs and ability to handle stimulation with the need for closeness with parents. Nurses undertook varied actions to facilitate closeness. Parent, infant and NICU-related factors influenced closeness. Consequences, both positive and negative, arose for parents, infants, and nurses. Findings point to actions that nurses undertake to promote closeness and help parents cope with separation including: promoting parent decision-making, organizing care to facilitate closeness, and supporting parent caregiving.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 259 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Spain 1 <1%
United States 1 <1%
Unknown 257 99%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 47 18%
Student > Bachelor 39 15%
Student > Doctoral Student 25 10%
Other 16 6%
Researcher 14 5%
Other 54 21%
Unknown 64 25%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Nursing and Health Professions 89 34%
Medicine and Dentistry 44 17%
Psychology 25 10%
Social Sciences 8 3%
Engineering 5 2%
Other 23 9%
Unknown 65 25%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 February 2017.
All research outputs
#18,530,362
of 22,952,268 outputs
Outputs from BMC Pediatrics
#2,369
of 3,023 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#263,780
of 344,189 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Pediatrics
#41
of 54 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,952,268 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 11th percentile – i.e., 11% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,023 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.6. This one is in the 13th percentile – i.e., 13% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 344,189 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 12th percentile – i.e., 12% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 54 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 16th percentile – i.e., 16% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.