The Effect of the Empowerment Program on the Chronic Sorrow of the Parents of Premature Newborn in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Abstract

Background & Aims: Sorrow is a natural response to adverse events such as loss and birth of premature or abnormal neonates, which increases the risk of chronic physical diseases, substance abuse, and suicide if prolonged. In addition, sorrow decreases the quality of life of individuals, causing variable degrees of disability in individual and social functions. The components of chronic sorrow in the parents of premature neonates include premature birth, developmental disabilities, Down syndrome, neural tube defects (e.g., meningococcus), and chronic diseases (e.g., cancer). The parents of these neonates experience variable degrees of chronic sorrow, which in turn makes it difficult to care for and interact with the newborn. The birth of a premature neonate is the main challenge in postpartum care. In general, approximately 13 million births lead to premature birth each year. Iran has one of the highest prevalence rates of premature birth across the world, where 5,000 neonates are born daily, 12% of whom are underweight and 10-15% are born premature before 37 weeks of gestation. The birth of a newborn that needs special care causes psychologically special and shocking conditions for the parents, preventing the fulfillment of their true role as a parent. Sorrow occurs when parents find out that their newborn is 'incomplete'. Sorrow encompasses both internal phenomena (e.g., thoughts and feelings) and external phenomena in the form of behaviors related to sorrow (e.g., sadness and crying). One of the main nursing interventions in this regard involves diminishing the problems of the parents whose newborn is hospitalized in the intensive care unit through their empowerment by providing the required knowledge for the better care of admitted premature neonates, which has been highlighted within the context of family-oriented care to increase the quality of life of the neonate and families. In general, the implementation of proper nursing interventions could lead to positive outcomes for parents, reducing issues such as grief, stress, changed parental roles as a major nursing measure for diminishing the problems of the parents whose neonates are admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. The empowerment of parents occurs by providing the necessary conditions for the interaction and participation of parents in the care of premature neonates. The creating opportunities for parent empowerment (COPE) was designed by Melnyk et al. in 2001 for the parents of premature infants. COPE is a four-stage educational-behavioral intervention based on the self-regulatory and control theories. In addition to the mental support of parents, this program provides the necessary information regarding the complexion and behaviors of premature infants, parental roles, conditions of the intensive care unit, and proper care of the neonates. The present study aimed to assess the effects of the COPE on the chronic sorrow of the parents of the premature neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Materials & Methods: This non-r...

Development of an educational module for mothers of premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit in Iran: a narrative review

“…The duration of the educational module for mothers of preterm babies admitted to the NICU, ranged from 20 to 90 minutes. There were also papers on the teaching of both parents (17,24,33).…”

“…Educational objectives are set according to the study by Rasti and colleagues (13) and Jo Brett and colleagues (14). The educational module was developed based on the authoritative literature and related articles (3,(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). The qualitative content validity of the educational content was determined by consulting with pediatric experts, nurses, and faculty members (Table 1).…”