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Parental perspectives on technology use to enhance communication and closeness during the COVID-19 parental presence restrictions

Parental perspectives on technology use to enhance communication and closeness during the COVID-19 parental presence restrictions
Parental perspectives on technology use to enhance communication and closeness during the COVID-19 parental presence restrictions

Objective: to explore parental perspectives on the use of technology in neonatal intensive care units (NICU), and its impact during COVID-19 parental presence restrictions.

Methods: co-designed online survey targeting parents of infants admitted to a Canadian NICU from March 1st, 2020 until March 5th, 2021.

Results: parents (n = 117) completed the survey from 38 NICUs. Large variation in policies regarding parental permission to use technology across sites was reported. Restrictive use of technology was reported as a source of parental stress. While families felt that technology helped them feel close to their infant when they could not be in the NICU, it did not replace being in-person.

Conclusion: large variation in policies were reported. Despite concerns about devices in NICUs, evidence on how to mitigate these concerns exists. Benefits of using technology to enhance parental experiences appear substantial. Future study is needed to inform recommendations on technology use in the NICU.

Communication, Family-centered care, Hospital restrictions, Neonatal intensive care unit, Parent survey, Technology
1355-1841
169-173
Campbell-Yeo, Marsha
fd416bfc-eef1-401e-8652-c049fb65e42a
McCulloch, Holly
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Hughes, Brianna
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Hundert, Amos
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Dol, Justine
a1ba7653-3a47-439e-b9a4-904c400c80c3
Smit, Michael
f82c3671-fead-453f-9db9-2e9c06fa055c
Afifi, Jehier
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Bacchini, Fabiana
f7669d57-b20a-4c8b-b533-97e154277b96
Bishop, Tanya
66262b7c-2a63-42e0-a75c-c0245f850169
Dorling, Jon
e55dcb9a-a798-41a1-8753-9e9ff8aab630
Earle, Rebecca
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Elliott Rose, Annette
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Inglis, Darlene
ebafbffc-1b74-4f4c-8c61-d38fad3f014a
Leighton, Carye
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MacRae, Gail
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Melanson, Andrea
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Simpson, David C.
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Whitehead, Leah
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Campbell-Yeo, Marsha
fd416bfc-eef1-401e-8652-c049fb65e42a
McCulloch, Holly
9089dcea-37cb-442f-bcb3-de81be45ea17
Hughes, Brianna
9cb78c48-fdb2-4302-a633-bd4e6c0622a5
Hundert, Amos
8091a3ef-52a7-404d-9d48-b35a70d45678
Dol, Justine
a1ba7653-3a47-439e-b9a4-904c400c80c3
Smit, Michael
f82c3671-fead-453f-9db9-2e9c06fa055c
Afifi, Jehier
5806e139-a9b0-4322-a5b0-545aa0f7d9c6
Bacchini, Fabiana
f7669d57-b20a-4c8b-b533-97e154277b96
Bishop, Tanya
66262b7c-2a63-42e0-a75c-c0245f850169
Dorling, Jon
e55dcb9a-a798-41a1-8753-9e9ff8aab630
Earle, Rebecca
45456903-f557-49ec-a04d-9f830d449d2d
Elliott Rose, Annette
23b481ae-efff-4d4c-aa9d-1f0b936367d8
Inglis, Darlene
ebafbffc-1b74-4f4c-8c61-d38fad3f014a
Leighton, Carye
7a4424d1-d5e9-4392-947c-ae957b565978
MacRae, Gail
17a7639e-66b9-452a-81bf-c1e6671f5298
Melanson, Andrea
dffaf20f-0166-4434-9af2-26761cda47f4
Simpson, David C.
d2ff4afd-669d-4f9c-8bc4-4b55a6f63054
Whitehead, Leah
3ab3442b-e223-4e55-bcb4-07898569d501

Campbell-Yeo, Marsha, McCulloch, Holly, Hughes, Brianna, Hundert, Amos, Dol, Justine, Smit, Michael, Afifi, Jehier, Bacchini, Fabiana, Bishop, Tanya, Dorling, Jon, Earle, Rebecca, Elliott Rose, Annette, Inglis, Darlene, Leighton, Carye, MacRae, Gail, Melanson, Andrea, Simpson, David C. and Whitehead, Leah (2022) Parental perspectives on technology use to enhance communication and closeness during the COVID-19 parental presence restrictions. Journal of Neonatal Nursing, 29 (1), 169-173. (doi:10.1016/j.jnn.2022.05.002).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Objective: to explore parental perspectives on the use of technology in neonatal intensive care units (NICU), and its impact during COVID-19 parental presence restrictions.

Methods: co-designed online survey targeting parents of infants admitted to a Canadian NICU from March 1st, 2020 until March 5th, 2021.

Results: parents (n = 117) completed the survey from 38 NICUs. Large variation in policies regarding parental permission to use technology across sites was reported. Restrictive use of technology was reported as a source of parental stress. While families felt that technology helped them feel close to their infant when they could not be in the NICU, it did not replace being in-person.

Conclusion: large variation in policies were reported. Despite concerns about devices in NICUs, evidence on how to mitigate these concerns exists. Benefits of using technology to enhance parental experiences appear substantial. Future study is needed to inform recommendations on technology use in the NICU.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 3 May 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 12 May 2022
Published date: 23 December 2022
Additional Information: Funding Information: there were three parent-reported reasons for the restrictions put on technology use in the NICU. The first was regarding impacts on privacy and workload. While most of the parents reported positive experiences with NICU webcam use, similar concerns have been reported elsewhere during the adoption of NICU webcams from both families and nursing staff (Kubicka et al., 2021; Le Bris et al., 2020). Various strategies, including IT department support, webcams set to focus solely on the infant, audio limitations, and informed consent from both the families and the healthcare providers, have been reported as successful mitigating strategies (Le Bris et al., 2020; Rhoads et al., 2012).This work was funded by the Nova Scotia COVID-19 Health Research Coalition.
Keywords: Communication, Family-centered care, Hospital restrictions, Neonatal intensive care unit, Parent survey, Technology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 485096
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/485096
ISSN: 1355-1841
PURE UUID: 754ed1d8-c19f-4199-b2dd-cc5c49e7ee74
ORCID for Jon Dorling: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1691-3221

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 29 Nov 2023 17:38
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:16

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Contributors

Author: Marsha Campbell-Yeo
Author: Holly McCulloch
Author: Brianna Hughes
Author: Amos Hundert
Author: Justine Dol
Author: Michael Smit
Author: Jehier Afifi
Author: Fabiana Bacchini
Author: Tanya Bishop
Author: Jon Dorling ORCID iD
Author: Rebecca Earle
Author: Annette Elliott Rose
Author: Darlene Inglis
Author: Carye Leighton
Author: Gail MacRae
Author: Andrea Melanson
Author: David C. Simpson
Author: Leah Whitehead

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