How to hold an effective NICU family meeting: capturing parent perspectives to build a more robust framework

Objective To record the content and parental perceptions of family meetings in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to improve existing frameworks for facilitating these meetings. Study design A prospective, mixed-methods study. NICU family meetings were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of perinatology Vol. 41; no. 9; pp. 2217 - 2224
Main Authors Drago, Matthew, Lorenz, John M., Hammond, Jennifer, Hardart, George E., Morris, Marilyn C.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.09.2021
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects
692/700/1720
692/700/228
Communication
Conferences, meetings and seminars
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Intensive care
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal
Management
Medical personnel and patient
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Meetings
Methods
Neonatal care
Neonatal intensive care units
Neonates
Parents
Pediatric Surgery
Pediatrics
Prospective Studies
Qualitative analysis
Social Workers
Staff participation
Statistical analysis
United States
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Summary:Objective To record the content and parental perceptions of family meetings in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to improve existing frameworks for facilitating these meetings. Study design A prospective, mixed-methods study. NICU family meetings were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by an iteratively derived coding framework until thematic saturation. We used descriptive statistics of parental post-meeting assessments. Results Qualitative analysis of 21 meetings identified both Communication Facilitators and Barriers. Facilitators included use of visual-aids and participation of social workers to clarify information for parents. Barriers included staff rarely eliciting parental comprehension (3 meetings) or concerns (5) before providing new information, resulting in 39% of parents reporting they didn’t ask questions they wanted to ask. In 33% of meetings an important participant was absent. Conclusions This novel qualitative and quantitative dataset of NICU family meetings highlights areas for improving communication. Attention to these components may improve parental perceptions of family meetings.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0743-8346
1476-5543
DOI:10.1038/s41372-021-01051-4