Parental Visits and Infant Care: Understanding Parents’ Needs

Abstract

CONTINUING OUR DISCUSSION OF family visits to the NICU, this column focuses on parents who visit but do not actively provide care for their infant. An example might be parents who spend the night while their infant is in the intermediate care area of the NICU. The infant feeds orally and is close to discharge. The parents spend the night at the bedside, sleeping in chairs. Much to the nurses’ surprise, they do not offer to care for him. When the infant cries, the parents stir in their chairs but do not awaken and provide care to the infant. The parents are physically present and are capable of providing basic infant care, and yet they are not taking an active role in this process.