Health Care Provider's Support from Mothers in NICU: A Focused Ethnography Study

Abstract Background: Mothers of premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) have complex needs and require a significant amount of support during the NICU admission. However, little is known about mothers support needs in the NICU. The aim of study was to explore mothers and health staff experiences and care practices meeting support needs of the mothers in the NICU. Methods: A focused ethnographic approach was adopted. Observation and interviews with 21 mothers, 18 nurses and 5 physicians were undertaken over a seven month period. Qualitative data analysis was conducted using the Roper and Shapira (2000) five-step framework. Result: Two main themes of “failure to meet the support needs of mothers” (Subthemes: failure to accompany the mother in care, assigning monitoring and care to the mother, inadequate sharing of medical information) and “supporting the mothers in certain circumstances” (Subthemes: reassuring the mother, supporting mothers with reduced functional capacity, providing information) were obtained. Conclusion: This study showed that the mothers were supported by the staff, particularly while mothers were in serious need of support. However, the staff considered the treatment and care of the infant as their main professional duty and mothers support was provided when they had the opportunity to support.