NICU Treatment Team Function and Its Effect on Parental Stress

Through a literature review this paper explores the operation of the NICU treatment team. It examines how the team's smooth functioning and family focus can effectively help the family cope with the stresses encountered in the birth of an infant with a critical medical condition. The paper progresses through a discussion of the following areas: (a) parental reactions to the birth of an infant with a chronic condition, and the causes of stress on the family unit, (b) the NICU environment and its part in parental stress, (c) stress factors for NICU treatment team members, (d) hospital culture and reducing stress through teamwork, (e) the role of the occupational therapist as a collaborator in the neonatal intensive care unit, and (f) reducing parental stress through the teamwork of family-centered care. The author concludes that a smoothly functioning treatment team, incorporating the principles of family-centered care, is essential to reducing parental stress and empowering the parent to take an active part in their infant's care. Involving the parent as an active member in a treatment team where interdependence and cooperation are fostered enables the parent to become confident in their own skills. It enables the parents to feel that they have some control over the situation and have an important role to play in the NICU process.