Effects of Instruction on Parent Competency During Infant Handling in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Area of Science:

• Neonatal care
• Parent education
• Motor skill acquisition

Background:

• Parents in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) require effective instruction on infant handling.
• Optimizing parent-NICU interactions can positively impact infant development and parental confidence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of three distinct instructional methods for infant handling.
• To evaluate direct, video, and written-pictorial approaches for teaching NICU parents.
• To assess parental perception of instructional effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• Ninety-six parents were randomized into direct, video, or written-pictorial instruction groups.
• All parents received instruction on three infant handling techniques post-baseline assessment.
• A masked evaluator assessed handling performance, and parents provided feedback on effectiveness.

Main Results:

• All instructional groups demonstrated significant improvements in infant handling performance.
• Direct and video instruction groups showed superior performance in two handling activities compared to the written-pictorial group.
• No significant performance differences were observed between the direct and video instruction groups.

Conclusions:

• Direct and video-based instructions are equally effective for teaching fundamental motor skills to parents in the NICU.
• Parents reported positive reception and perceived effectiveness across all tested instructional methods.
• These findings support the use of direct and video methods for enhancing parental infant handling skills in the NICU.