Family-Centered Care in Neonatal Intensive Care Units: Combining Intensive Care and Family Support

Abstract

: Advances in treatment in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) for preterm and sick newborns have improved the mortality rate of patients, but admission to the NICU may disrupt parent-infant interaction, with adverse consequences for infants and their families because of physical, psychological, and emotional separation. The concept of family centered care (FCC), in which family members are part of the care team and infants are close to the family, is important and has become popular in NICU. In 2013, we created a team called "Kodomo-Kazoku Mannaka" to promote FCC in Japan, and visited the NICU at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden, which is internationally famous for FCC. Since this fruitful visit, we have been promoting FCC in Japan by exhibitions and presentations of the FCC ideas at academic conferences and using internet services. A questionnaire survey conducted in 2015 revealed that the importance and the benefits of FCC in NICU are recognized, although there are some barriers to FCC in each facility. It is hard to change facilities and social systems right away, but it is easier and more important to change peopleʼs minds. Our role is to spread the concept of FCC and to help each facility find its own way to adopt it. We will continue to make efforts encourage to promote FCC in Japan.

Termos da linguagem especializada de enfermagem no cuidado ao recém-nascido com cateter venoso central

“…Nesse cenário, a família experiencia sentimentos de preocupação e falta de confiança na própria aptidão de cuidar do seu filho. Sendo assim, é importante a prestação da assistência a todos os familiares, e não somente à criança hospitalizada e sua mãe (28) .…”

Terms of specialized nursing language in the care of the newborn with central venous catheter

“…In this scenario, the family experiences feelings of concern and lack of confidence in their own ability to care for their child. Therefore, it is important to provide assistance to all family members, not just the hospitalized child and his mother ( 28 ) .…”

Variations in length of stay among survived very preterm infants admitted to Chinese neonatal intensive care units

“…Prolonged LOS not only poses a heavy burden on perinatal healthcare, it also is related to increased exposure to adverse events, including infection, parent-infant separation, and sensory stimuli harmful to neurodevelopment [3][4][5]. On the other hand, if discharge occurs before the establishment of physiologic stability, increased risk of life-threatening events and re-hospitalization have been observed [6,7].…”