Confronting Adversity: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Receiving Difficult News in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

In neonatal intensive care, the communication of difficult news can have lingering repercussions throughout the lives of those receiving such information. Uncertainty and stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively influence this sensitive yet essential communication process.

To analyze the communication of difficult news during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of parents of newborns admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit.

A qualitative, descriptive research study was completed in a hospital in Brazil. Individual and semistructured interviews were conducted with 21 parents of newborns hospitalized in an intensive care unit and submitted to thematic analysis.

Three themes were built: "Tools and strategies to manage difficult news," "What makes difficult news hard to listen," and "The importance of being prepared to receive difficult news." When comparing these findings with prepandemic literature, the COVID-19 period changed communication dynamics, including coping tools and altered family dynamics. Additionally, assessing healthcare providers' positive and negative behaviors by parents could clarify essential skills to support the family's hospitalization process during a crisis.

Applying and investing in skills training such as spirituality assessment, providing clear and straightforward information, and empathy can reduce the impact of difficult news and, thus, requires both recognition and action from healthcare professionals. Knowing some of the effects COVID-19 had on the communication process for parents with critically ill infants, healthcare providers can better prepare themselves for communication in several scenarios and establish successful interactions.