Sources of support reported by mothers and fathers of infants hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Over the past two decades, awareness of the importance of social support for individuals faced with a major life transition or a stressful event has increased. The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of mothers and fathers of critically ill infants about the helpfulness of support provided to them by family, health care professionals, and other when their infants were in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Social support in this study is conceptualized as the interpersonal transactions that parents of preterm infants perceive as helpful in reducing their stress and coping with their child's illness. Data were collected using the Illness Support Scale, on which subjects rated the helpfulness of support from individuals across their network. Findings indicate that these parents experienced a moderately high level of support and perceived NICU nurses as very helpful. Nurses need to continue to develop their role in helping families by identifying specific supportive interventions.