RESEARCH ARTICLE


Kangaroo Care in a Neonatal Context: Parents’ Experiences of Information and Communication of Nurse-Parents



Desirée Lemmen1, Petra Fristedt2 , Anita Lundqvist* , 3
1 Skåne University Hospital, Lasarettsgatan 48, Lund, SE-22185 Sweden
2 Capio Cityclinic, Östergatan 29, Landskrona, SE-261 34, Sweden
3 Child, Family and Reproductive Health, Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, P.O. Box 157, Lund, SE-221 00, Sweden

Article Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2013
Volume: 7
First Page: 41
Last Page: 48
Publisher ID: TONURSJ-7-41
DOI: 10.2174/1874434601307010041

Article History:

Received Date: 30/10/2012
Revision Received Date: 20/12/2012
Acceptance Date: 18/1/2013
Electronic publication date: 16/5/2013
Collection year: 2013

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Creative Commons License
© Lemmen et al.; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Child, Family and Reproductive Health, Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, P.O. Box 157, Lund, SE-221 00, Sweden; Tel: +46 2221813; Fax +4642148344; E-mail: Anita.Lundqvist@med.lu.se


Abstract

Objective:

Kangaroo Care (KC) is an evidence-based nursing practice with many benefits for infants and parents. The purpose of this study was to describe parents’ experience of information and communication mediated by staff nurses before and during KC at neonatal wards.

Methodology and Participants:

A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was performed. The sample consisted of 20 parents.

Results:

The results show that the information and communication were experienced as both optimal and suboptimal including following categories: initially conflicting emotions in relation to KC, participation and confidence in KC is evolving, strengthening preparation and context is decisive as well as parental sense and caution. The overall theme was that good preparation will contribute to a positive experience of KC.

Conclusion:

The conclusion is that most of the parents had positive experiences of KC. The information and communication from the staff nurses encouraged and motivated the parents to practice KC, in a sense that it was a natural way to get to know the infant, when the staff nurses were well versed in the method and coherent and supportive. Conflicting emotions emerged when staff nurses practised KC as a routine without deeper knowledge and skills of the method and its advantages as well as without sensitivity to parents’ vulnerable situation.

Keywords: Communication, information, Kangaroo Care (KC), neonatal, parents experience..