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The effect of the educational program on Iranian premature infants' parental stress in a neonatal intensive care

Noushin Beheshtipour¹, Seyedeh Marzieh Baharlu², Sedigheh Montaseri³

¹Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, Department of Pediatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran;

International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery

|October 29, 2014

Insights

An educational program significantly reduced parental stress in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This intervention allowed parents to better support and care for their premature infants, improving the overall family experience.

Area of Science:

Neonatal Intensive Care
Parental Well-being
Nursing Education

Background:

Hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) causes significant stress for parents.
Nurses are primary information sources and can play a crucial role in mitigating parental stress.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the impact of an educational program on parental stress levels in the NICU.

Main Methods:

A double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted with 60 parents.
Parents were allocated to an intervention group (educational program) or a control group (routine care).
Parental stress was measured using the Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU) before and after the intervention.

Main Results:

The intervention group showed significantly lower maternal and paternal stress scores compared to the control group after the intervention.
A week post-intervention, stress scores in the intervention group (mothers: 59.72±13.55, fathers: 61.22±18.00) were markedly lower than in the control group (mothers: 86.75±12.12, fathers: 84.70±18.46).
Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in stress reduction between the groups across the study periods.

Conclusions:

An educational program effectively reduces stress for parents of premature infants in the NICU.
Reduced parental stress enables parents to redirect energy towards infant care and support.
This highlights the importance of structured educational interventions in neonatal care settings.

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Abstract

Background:

Hospitalization in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) leads to a lot of stress and shock to the parents. Nurses, as the primary sources of information, could play an important role in reducing their stress. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of educational program on the premature infants' parental stress in NICU.

Methods:

This double-blind randomized controlled trial study with a pre-and post-test and follow up design was conducted from February 2013 to March 2014. Sixty parents in Hazrat Zainab hospital affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences were randomly allocated into the intervention (received educational program) and control groups (received routine care). The valid and reliable "Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU)" was used to measure the parental stress. In the intervention group, information about general condition of the baby, the equipment and unit's environment, spouse support, and problem solving strategies were given. The data were collected the second day after admission, fifth day after admission, and a week after the intervention. The data were analyzed in SPSS (Version 14), using t-test and repeated measures analysis of variance.

Results:

In the second day after admission, the mean score of stress in premature infants' mothers and fathers in the intervention group were 94.79±14.28 and 76.77±16.39, respectively. In the control group, it was 94.48±20.03 and 92.30±21.95 for mothers and fathers. After the intervention in the fifth day of admission, a significant difference was observed between the two groups concerning the premature infants' maternal (t=-5. 23, P<0.0001) and paternal (t=-6.17, P<0.0001) stress. Moreover, a week after the intervention, the stress mean scores were (in the intervention group: for mothers=59.72±13.55 and for fathers=61.22±18.00), and (in the control group: for mothers=86.75±12.12 and fathers=84.70±18.46). Moreover, a significant difference was shown between the two groups concerning the premature infants' maternal (F=23.05, P<0.0001) and paternal (F=17.35, P<0.0001) stress mean scores during the three study periods.

Conclusion:

The results of this study showed that parents' educational program can reduce their stress and they can spend their energy to support and care for their baby instead of coping with stress.

Trial Registration Number:

IRCT2013121515810N1.

Keywords:

Education Intensive Care Units Parents Premature Infant Stress

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