Family-centered care during acute neonatal transport

To evaluate current transport team communication practices and identify areas for improvement from the parents' perspective. We also sought to determine whether parents perceived that they were active participants in the care of their infants during the transport process, consistent with the concepts of providing family-centered care (FCC).

Purposeful sampling of mothers and fathers (or maternally designated support person if the father was not involved) of 25 infants who were transported for acute care to a level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) between October 1, 2012, and September 18, 2013.

This quality improvement project used quantitative and qualitative analysis of a parent questionnaire.

Mothers and fathers (or the support person) of transported infants were invited to complete a questionnaire consisting of yes/no and open-ended questions within the first 2 weeks of their infants' transport to a level III NICU. The questions were related to the communication and information parents received and their ability to participate in the transport process.

Twenty-seven parents completed the questionnaire. Responses to yes/no questions identified areas for improvement for the transport team. These included providing parents the opportunity to view an informational video; ensuring that mothers had the opportunity to provide colostrum or breast milk before transport; and providing an explanation to parents about their role as active participants in their infants' care. Responses to the open-ended questions indicated that approximately 40% of parents felt they had received adequate information about their infants' care during the transport and many parents (40%) cited separation from their infants as very concerning and causing distress. More than one-third (40%) of the parents specifically stated that at least 1 parent should accompany the infant during the transport. One father in this sample had been able to accompany his infant to the tertiary center.

The integration of FCC core concepts during an acute neonatal transport is important to parents. The orientation of parents to FCC during the transport process may facilitate communication and help them become active participants in their infants' care.