Developing patient safety standards for health-care quality promotion in neonatal intensive care units: A mixed-methods Protocol

BACKGROUND

Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is one of the accident-prone settings in the health-care system. There is a series of structural and process threats to the safety of infants hospitalized in this unit, which can be prevented by taking the right actions. For this purpose, developing standards based on current knowledge, available resources, and the context that provides care can determine patient injury prevention requirements. Likewise, it can be a source for national development and application of related guidelines and protocols. This study aims to develop patient safety standards in the NICUs of Iran.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This mixed-methods study will apply the exploration, preparation, implementation, and sustainment framework to develop patient safety standards. In each phase of this framework, a set of activities take place. Exploration is based on the world health organization model to develop standards. Determining the validity and applicability of standards will be done in Phase 2 (Preparation) and Phase 3 (Implementation), respectively. Since the long-term effects are not desired, the fourth phase (Sustainment) will not be considered.

DISCUSSION

Patient safety standards from this study will contribute to efficient and effective, equitable, and high-quality health-care delivery. The application of them will further promote patient safety and the quality of medical care in Iranian NICUs.

A family support intervention to reduce stress among parents of preterm infants in neonatal intensive care unit

BACKGROUND

Preterm infants constitute a large proportion of the newborn population in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Parents, as the main members of the care team, are not adequately supported as the focus is chiefly on infant care. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of a family support intervention on the stress levels among the parents of preterm infants in NICU.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this quasi-experimental study, convenience sampling method was used to select 50 parents of preterm infants. The subjects were allocated to two groups of intervention and control (n = 25 pairs in each). While the control group received routine care, the intervention group benefitted from a two-stage family support program (including informational and observational phases in the first stage and emotional supportive intervention in the second). The Parental Stressor Scale-NICU (PSS-NICU) was completed by both fathers and mothers of the two groups (before and after intervention). Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze data in SPSS version 18.

RESULTS

Before the intervention, the mean total scores of PSS-NICU and also the mean scores of its three subscales were not significantly different between the two groups. However, after the intervention, significant differences were observed between the two groups. The scores of the intervention group showed significant reduction following the intervention, but such a difference was not detected in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Apparently, early educational and emotional support for parents of preterm infants decreased their stress. Similar interventions may thus be effective in empowering parents for caring of their infant and playing their parental role.