School of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia.
J Clin Nurs. 2018 Sep;27(17-18):3377-3386. doi: 10.1111/jocn.13868. Epub 2017 Aug 9.
To explore parents of preterm infants' experiences of caring for their preterm infants with the grandmother as their primary support after discharge.
Preterm delivery is the major cause of high neonatal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. There is poor neonatal health outcome in the Ghanaian community with some illnesses culturally classified as not-for-hospital. In the community, grandmothers or older women provide support for new parents and decide treatment options for sick infants. However, there is paucity of research on how parents of preterm infants experience this support in the Ghanaian community.
Qualitative narrative inquiry methodology was used. Face-to-face interviews using semi-structured interview guide were used to collect data from 21 mothers and nine fathers. Participant observation and field notes were used to complement interview data. Thematic content analysis of data within the three-dimensional narrative space was employed. Analysis focussed on the relationship of time, place, person and cultural practices affecting the care of preterm infants in the community.
Three themes emerged from the data, namely (i) Grandmother's prescriptions, (ii) Fighting for the well-being of the infant and (iii) Being in a confused state. Cultural practices mainly initiated by grandmothers resulted in adverse health problems for preterm infants and disruption in parents' mental health.
As grandmothers perform their traditional role of supporting new parents to care for preterm infants after discharge, they give both positive and negative advice which can adversely affect the health of vulnerable preterm infants in the community.
Grandmothers are the main support providers of parents of preterm infants after neonatal unit discharge. Nurses should identify and include grandmothers in predischarge education in order to equip them to render appropriate support to parents and preterm infants.
探索早产儿父母在出院后以祖母为主要支持的情况下照顾早产儿的体验。
早产是撒哈拉以南非洲新生儿高死亡率的主要原因。加纳社区新生儿健康状况不佳，一些疾病在文化上被归类为不需要住院治疗。在社区中，祖母或年长的妇女为新父母提供支持，并为患病婴儿决定治疗方案。然而，关于早产儿父母在加纳社区如何体验这种支持的研究很少。
采用定性叙事探究方法。使用半结构化访谈指南进行面对面访谈，从 21 名母亲和 9 名父亲那里收集数据。参与者观察和现场笔记用于补充访谈数据。采用主题内容分析方法对三维叙事空间内的数据进行分析。分析重点关注影响社区中早产儿护理的时间、地点、人员和文化实践的关系。
从数据中出现了三个主题，即（i）祖母的处方，（ii）为婴儿的幸福而奋斗，以及（iii）处于困惑状态。主要由祖母发起的文化实践导致早产儿出现不良健康问题，并破坏父母的心理健康。
由于祖母在早产儿出院后履行了支持新父母照顾早产儿的传统角色，她们提供了积极和消极的建议，这可能会对社区中脆弱的早产儿的健康产生不利影响。
祖母是早产儿父母出院后主要的支持提供者。护士应识别并将祖母纳入出院前教育，以便使她们有能力为父母和早产儿提供适当的支持。
