Parent Experience in Neonatal Hospitalization in Poland: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study Using NSS-8 and PEC Frameworks

Background: Parent-reported experience in neonatal units is a key but under-measured dimension of family-centred care in Poland. We piloted a brief parent-experience questionnaire informed by the Neonatal Satisfaction Survey (NSS-8) and communication constructs from the Parents' Experiences of Communication in Neonatal Care (PEC) to describe in-hospital experience and identify actionable targets for improvement. Methods: Observational, cross-sectional pilot at a Polish tertiary centre (September-November 2021). Parents of hospitalized neonates completed a 21-item survey covering educational materials, medical care/communication, parental stress/confidence, hospitalization details, and sociodemographics. Analyses were descriptive with item-wise denominators (n = 32-46). Results: Forty-six parents participated. Educational materials were rated very highly: parental guide 9.8/10 (n = 46); brochure readability 10/10 (n = 46), indicating ceiling effects. Perceptions of care and communication were favourable: overall care 4.47/5, physician concern 4.62/5, ward conditions 4.47/5, explanation of test indications 4.23/5, and adequacy/understandability of information 4.35/5 (each n = 35; medians = 5). Despite this, parental stress/anger/insomnia was moderate (3.00/5; n = 35), while confidence in basic home care remained high (4.10/5; n = 35). Following discharge, 17/46 (37.0%) sought specialist consultations. Length of stay (n = 34) had a median of 1 day (0-4). Reasons for admission most frequently included multisymptom presentations (20/46, 43.5%); respiratory (8.7%) and infectious (6.5%) causes were less common. Conclusions: Parents reported very positive care and communication alongside persistent emotional burden and substantial post-discharge information needs. Findings support pairing a broad experience framework with a focused communication module, standardizing discharge communication (including a 48-72 h "bridging" contact), and progressing to a multicentre psychometric validation. This exploratory pilot was not a formal validation study; mixed scales and item-wise missingness should guide instrument refinement.