Decision making in the NICU: the parents' perspective

• Author / Creator

  Pepper, Dawn

• There are different opinions on who the appropriate decision makers are for extremely premature infants. Some argue the responsibility should fall to the parents, and others argue the neonatal experts should be responsible for decision making. This study explored parental perceptions of their involvement in decision making in the neonatal intensive care (NICU). The NICU operated from the philosophy of Family Centered Care (FCC). FCC situates the parents as central to all aspects of their child’s care and as such, the parents should be well informed and actively involved in decision making. An interpretative descriptive approach was used to examine the experiences of seven parents who had infants born at 24-26 weeks gestation who were admitted to the NICU. Thematic analysis revealed that the culture of the NICU along with the relationships developed in the NICU had an impact on the parents’ perceptions of decision making.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • NICU
  • Decision-making
  • Neonates
  • Parents
  • Premature infants

• Graduation date

  Fall 2009

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Nursing

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3QQ5H

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.