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Updated: Nov 22, 2025
Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Published on: January 7, 2020
Parents' needs and perceived gaps in communication with healthcare professionals in the neonatal (intensive) care
Esther S Lorié1, Willem-Jan W Wreesmann1, Nicole R van Veenendaal2
1Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Objective:
To explore parents' needs and perceived gaps concerning communication with healthcare professionals during their preterm infants' admission to the neonatal (intensive) care unit (NICU) after birth.
Methods:
Semi-structured, retrospective interviews with 20 parents of preterm infants (March 2020), admitted to a Dutch NICU (level 2-4) minimally one week, one to five years prior. The interview guide was developed using Epstein and Street's Framework for Patient-Centered Communication. Online interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Deductive and inductive thematic analysis was performed by two independent coders.
Results:
Communication needs and gaps emerged across four main functions of NICU communication: Building/maintaining relationships, exchanging information, (sharing) decision-making, and enabling parent self-management. Communication gaps included: lack of supportive physician communication, disregard of parents' views and agreements, missing communication about decisions, and the absence of written (discharge) information.
Conclusion:
This study improves our understanding and conceptualization of adequate NICU communication by revealing persisting gaps in parent-provider interaction. Also, this study provides a steppingstone for further integration of parents as equal partners in neonatal care and communication.
Practice Implications:
The results are relevant to practitioners in the field of neonatal and pediatric care, providing suggestions for tangible improvements in NICU care in the Netherlands and beyond.
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