NICU Nurses and Families Partnering to Provide Neuroprotective, Family-Centered, Developmental Care

The aim of this project was to determine how implementing neuroprotective, family-centered, developmental care interventions would impact the satisfaction of nurses and families compared with traditional care in a NICU. Neuroprotective, family-centered, developmental care is grounded in the principle that optimal health outcomes are accomplished when patients’ family members play an active role in contributing emotional, social, and developmental support for their babies. To accomplish this, nurses needed an understanding of the developmental problems associated with high-risk premature infants, fundamentals of neurosensory growth, and how the intrauterine environment protects the infant from the fluctuation of an unstable extrauterine environment. The model we chose to use was the Neonatal Integrative Developmental Care Model. Pre- and post-surveys showing an increase in knowledge and benefits of these interventions were collected from nurses. Pre- and post-Press Ganey reports showed families had a strong satisfaction with neuroprotective, family-centered, developmental care in our NICU.