University of Alberta, Stollery Children's Hospital, Edmonton, Canada.
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
J Palliat Care. 2024 Apr;39(2):138-160. doi: 10.1177/08258597231158328. Epub 2023 Feb 27.
Parental bereavement after the death of an infant in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a complex and nuanced experience. Support from healthcare practitioners can have a significant impact on bereavement experiences in the short- and long-term. Although several studies exist exploring parental perceptions of their experience of loss and bereavement, there has not been a recent review of beneficial practices and common themes in the current literature.
This review synthesizes empirical research to identify considerations that ought to guide the caregiving practices of healthcare professionals to support parental bereavement.
SETTINGS/SUBJECTS: Data was collected from studies identified in MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL. The search was limited to English-language studies describing parental bereavement in the NICU population from January 1990 to November 2021.
Of 583 studies initially identified, 47 studies of varying geographic locations were included in this review. Various themes surrounding healthcare support in parental bereavement were identified including ensuring the opportunity for parents to spend time caring for their child, understanding their perception of infant suffering, recognizing the impact of communication experiences with healthcare providers, and offering access to alternative means of support, all of which have been described as suboptimal. Parents generally want the opportunity to say goodbye to their infant in a private and safe space, be supported through their decision-making and be offered bereavement follow-up after loss.
This review identifies methods of support in parental bereavement based on first-hand parental experiences and routine implementation of these strategies may be beneficial in supporting parents through their bereavement after the loss of a baby in the NICU.
新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）中婴儿死亡后，父母会经历复杂而微妙的丧亲过程。医疗保健从业者的支持可以对短期和长期的丧亲体验产生重大影响。尽管有几项研究探讨了父母对失去和丧亲的看法，但目前文献中还没有对有益实践和常见主题的最新综述。
本综述综合了实证研究，以确定应当指导医疗保健专业人员的护理实践，为父母提供丧亲支持。
设置/研究对象：从 MEDLINE、Embase 和 CINAHL 中检索到的研究中收集数据。检索范围限于描述 NICU 人群中父母丧亲之痛的英语语言研究，时间范围为 1990 年 1 月至 2021 年 11 月。
最初确定的 583 项研究中，有 47 项来自不同地理位置的研究被纳入本综述。确定了围绕医疗保健在父母丧亲中的支持的各种主题，包括确保父母有机会花时间照顾孩子、理解他们对婴儿痛苦的感知、认识到与医疗保健提供者沟通体验的影响，以及提供获得替代支持的机会，所有这些都被描述为不理想。父母通常希望有机会在私人和安全的空间与他们的婴儿道别，在决策过程中得到支持，并在失去婴儿后得到丧亲后续支持。
本综述根据父母的第一手经验确定了在父母丧亲中的支持方法，常规实施这些策略可能有助于父母在 NICU 失去婴儿后度过丧亲期。
