...Running head: FROM OUTSIDER TO PARTNER From Outsider to Partner Grand Canyon University NRS-433V September 11, 2011 Linnette Nolte, RN Introduction and Purpose Nearly 400,000 infants are admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) each year. This can be an intensely overwhelming, stressful, and emotionally draining experience for the families and, especially the parents, of the infants requiring care in the NICU. With the help of an emerging care delivery model known as family centered care, health care providers can ease some of the stress during a NICU stay by involving the parents in the cares of their infant. Basic ideas of family centered care include: parental involvement in the cares of their infant, unrestricted parental presence in the NICU, and open communication between parents and all care provider team members (Griffin, T., 2006). Griffin states that family centered care is “a philosophy of care that embraces a partnership between staff and families.” As this type of delivery care model is becoming more the norm in NICUs across the world, many researchers have posed the question of the parents and their feelings of the overall environment and care of their infant. Making the parents feel like they have control over certain areas of the entire NICU experience can make the difference between a smooth hospital stay and one that is not ridden with problems. 1.) In the qualitative research article Mothers in the NICU: Outsider...
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