School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada.
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2021 Sep 17;21(1):981. doi: 10.1186/s12913-021-06967-3.
Retro-transfers from level 3 to 2 NICUs in Alberta's regionalization of neonatal care system are essential to ensure the proper utilization of level 3 NICUs for complex neonatal cases. Parents often experience distress that relates to the transfer of their neonates to another hospital. Limited information is available regarding parental perceptions of distress during transfers for neonates requiring care between NICUs in the current Canadian context. The objective of this study was to investigate: 1) what caused parents distress and could be changed about the transfer process and 2) the supports that were available to help ease parental distress during the transfer process.
Parents of singleton infants retro-transferred from level 3 to 2 NICUs in Calgary, Alberta between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2017, were invited to participate in the study. Questionnaires were self-administered by one parent per family. A thematic deductive approach was employed by the researchers to analyze the qualitative data.
Our response rate was 39.1% (n = 140). We found three themes for causes of parental distress and supports available to ease parental distress during the transfer, including communication between staff members and parents, details about the transfer process, and the care received throughout and shortly after the transfer process.
Parents should receive at least 24 h of notice, regular transfer updates, employ anticipatory preparation strategies, and foster more open communication between parents and health care professionals to help ensure parental satisfaction.
在艾伯塔省新生儿保健系统的分级化中，从三级新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）向二级 NICU 的逆行转运对于确保三级 NICU 妥善用于复杂新生儿病例至关重要。父母在新生儿向另一家医院转运时常常感到不安。在当前加拿大的背景下，关于需要在 NICU 之间进行护理的新生儿转运过程中父母的焦虑感及其相关因素的信息有限。本研究的目的是调查：1）父母感到焦虑的原因，以及转运过程中哪些方面可以改变；2）在转运过程中，有哪些支持可以帮助缓解父母的焦虑。
邀请 2016 年 1 月 1 日至 2017 年 12 月 31 日期间，从艾伯塔省卡尔加里的三级 NICU 逆行转运至二级 NICU 的单胎婴儿的父母参加研究。每个家庭由一位家长自行填写问卷。研究人员采用主题演绎法对定性数据进行分析。
我们的回复率为 39.1%（n=140）。我们发现导致父母焦虑的三个主题和缓解父母焦虑的支持措施，包括医护人员与父母之间的沟通、转运过程的详细信息以及转运过程中及之后的护理。
父母至少应提前 24 小时得到通知，定期获得转运更新，采用预期准备策略，并促进父母与医护人员之间更开放的沟通，以帮助确保父母的满意度。
