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A family-centered "visitation" policy in the neonatal intensive care unit that welcomes parents as partners
1St Alexius Medical Center, 1555 North Barrington Rd, Hoffman Estates, IL 60169, USA. terrynnp@aol.com
Insights
Family-centered care in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) requires welcoming parents as partners. Shifting from restrictive "visitation" policies to open access is crucial for infant well-being and family collaboration.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Pediatrics
- Family medicine
Background:
- Parents are vital partners in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).
- Family-centered care emphasizes continuous parental presence and collaboration.
- Current NICU "visitation" policies often restrict parental access, hindering true partnership.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the importance of family-centered care in the NICU.
- To advocate for the removal of restrictive "visitation" policies.
- To encourage the adoption of welcoming policies that recognize parents as essential partners.
Main Methods:
- Literature review on family-centered care principles.
- Analysis of current "visitation" policies in NICUs.
- Discussion of strategies for implementing welcoming policies.
Main Results:
- Many NICUs maintain restrictive policies despite evidence supporting open access.
- Restricted access fails to acknowledge parents as active caregiving partners.
- A shift to welcoming policies is essential for family-centered care.
Conclusions:
- NICU "visitation" policies should be reframed as welcoming policies.
- Nurses require communication tools and strategies to support this transition.
- Implementing welcoming policies fosters essential parent-infant-staff partnerships.
Abstract:
Parents are important partners in the neonatal intensive care unit, collaborating with staff in caregiving and decision making for their infants. These essential and mutually beneficial partnerships between families and staff are the cornerstone of family-centered care and require that parents are welcomed to be with their baby at any time. This concept is not new and, yet, many neonatal intensive care units continue to have "visitation" policies that restrict parent's access to their infants, failing to recognize parents as partners. Changing the "visitation" policy is part of a welcoming approach in the context of family-centered care. Neonatal intensive care unit nurses may be accustomed to a more strict policy, needing communication tools and strategies to collaborate with parents and implement a family-centered "visitation" or welcoming policy.
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