Föräldrars upplevelse att bo i familjerum på neonatalavdelning
Introduction: Today caring for newborn, sick babies or premature infants is in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). There is an opportunity in NICUs for advanced critical care and skilled nursing care of the child, conducted by health professionals in an active partnership with parents. To encourage parental participation in the care of their children parents are offered accommodation in a family room in the NICU. Objective: The aim is to describe parents' experience to stay in a family room in the NICU when their child is cared for there. Method: This is a research plan for a qualitative study with an inductive, descriptive approach. A pilot studie have been conducted to test the method with interviews of two parents to form the basis of the results. The data were analyzed by Graneheim and Lundmans (2004) method of qualitative content analysis. Result: Three main categories were identified Room care environment, Isolated-like a bubble and Opportunity for relief. The parents appreciated the physical and mental health care environment in the family room, even though the nursing staff came in throughout the day without notice. The isolation in the room was perceived stressful and the parents experience was that siblings did not want to be inside the room. The parents stated that they felt involved and participated in the care of their children in the family room. Conclusion: The parents felt that they got to know the child when they lived together in the family room and had the opportunity to be physically present at their children throughout the day. The parents made themselves at home in the room and appreciated that healthcare professionals looked at them periodically. A prerequisite for being able to leave the room was that the parents solved each other although nursing staff often told the parents that they could solve them, it rarely happened.