Obstacles to Parents’ Interaction with Neonates in Neonatal Intensive Care Units from Parents’ and Nurses’ Points of View

Background: This study aimed to identify the most important obstacles to proper interaction of parents with their neonates who were hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 90 NICU nurses and 400 female and male parents using census and convenience sampling methods. To collect data, in a period of three months, a researcher-made questionnaire was prepared, including the factors threatening the parents' interaction with their neonates in NICUs. Data analysis was performed using the descriptive statistics including the number, percentage and mean scores of responses in SPSS software (version 16). Results: By calculating the mean scores of responses, from the nurses' points of view, "feeling of emotional discomfort due to being away from the neonate" (3.63) and "nurses’ not understanding parents since they have no children" (1.42) were the most and the least important factors, respectively. From the mothers' points of view, "parental stress due to the neonate’s hospitalization" (3.47), and "the maternity wards being away from NICUs" (1.37) were the most and the least important factors, respectively. Also, the most and the least important obstacles in the perspectives of the fathers were "parental stress due to the neonate’s hospitalization" (3.09) and "the unwanted neonate", respectively. Conclusion: The results showed that the stress and tension of parents were the most influencing factor on the interaction of neonate-parent in NICUs. Some neonatal and organizational factors were considered less important as the barriers to neonate-parent interactions in these wards.