A comparison of parent and staff perceptions of setting-specific and everyday stressors encountered by parents with very preterm infants experiencing neonatal intensive care

作者：Pritchard Verena E^*; Montgomery Hoenger Argene

来源：Early Human Development, 2014, 90(10): 549-555.

DOI：10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2014.07.006

• Very preterm birth
• PSS: NICU
• Parental stress
• Nursing staff
• Maternal
• Paternal
• External stressors

Background: Stress responses among parents of premature infants experiencing the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) environment are widely reported. However, less is known about how nurses perceive parents%26apos; experiences or how stressors relating to demands on family finances and practical challenges associated with infant hospitalization contribute to parental stress levels in the NICU. %26lt;br%26gt;Objective: 1) To compare parent and staff perceptions of the stressors facing parents experiencing neonatal intensive care; and 2) to develop a scale suitable for identifying stressors outside the NICU setting. %26lt;br%26gt;Methods: At infant 34 weeks, parents (n = 21) of very preterm infants (%26lt;= 32 weeks GA) and NICU nurses (n = 23) completed the Parental Stressor Scale: NICU (PSS: NICU) and a custom-made External Stressor Scale (ESS: NICU). %26lt;br%26gt;Results: Nurses perceived parents to experience higher stress in the NICU than parents themselves (ps %26lt; 0.00001), with parents reporting low-to-moderate stress and staff rating parental stress as moderate-to-high. Parents reported slightly lower levels of stress on the ESS: NICU, with nurses again overestimating the level of parental stress (ps %26lt; 0.00001). Consideration of the extent of nurses%26apos; medical experience did not alter results. The ESS: NICU showed good internal reliability, with PCAs revealing all items to load onto a single component. Additional analyses demonstrated divergent validity, with no relation evident with stress responses on the PSS; NICU. %26lt;br%26gt;Conclusions: Periodic reassessments of staff and parent perceptions should be encouraged along with research dedicated to a fuller understanding of the range of stressors facing parents experiencing neonatal intensive care in attempts to reduce stress levels and aid integration into the unit.

• 出版日期2014-10