Health care staff support for mothers in NICU: a focused ethnography study

Abstract Background Mothers of premature newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) have complex needs and require a significant amount support during NICU admission. However, little is known about mothers' NICU. This study aimed to explore health staff experiences meeting mothers . Methods A focused ethnographic approach was adopted. Observations interviews with 21 mothers, 18 nurses, five physicians were undertaken over seven months period. Qualitative data analysis conducted using Roper Shapira (2000) five-step framework. Result Two main themes “insufficient provision needs” (subthemes: inadequate accompany care, assigning monitoring sharing medical information) “supporting certain circumstances” reassuring supporting reduced functional capacity, providing obtained. Conclusion The experienced gap between expected actual provided by staff. Although, believed that necessity, it not their concerns, they considered workload as barrier for