Parent Perception of Child Safety following Admission to a Neonatal Unit

Abstract

Objective Parent partnership is a key aspect of neonatal hospital care. However, there is a lack of information regarding parents' perception of neonatal safety. This study explores parents' opinions on safety during their child's hospitalization to identify points for improvement.

Study Design We used a questionnaire, validated by the Spanish National Healthcare Authorities, on perception of safety with respect to hospital health care.

Results Thirty-seven parents of 20 newborns treated in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and 139 parents of newborns in intermediate care (IC) participated in this study. With regard to overall perception of safety, more than 96% of parents felt “very safe” or “fairly safe.” In the NICU, an area for improvement detected was to ask parents more often their opinion about the care or treatment provided to their child. In IC, three points for improvement were identified from the group of parents whose child was admitted directly to IC: the consistency of the information received, the request for consent for procedures, and the request for an opinion on their child's care and treatment. Only four parents reported that their child suffered an incident. Regarding incident management, parents were not completely satisfied with the information they received.

Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of parent perception of patient safety in a neonatal unit using a validated questionnaire. Our findings suggest that parents can provide valuable information on neonatal safety, which can then be used to identify areas for improvement.

Key Points

• There is a lack of information regarding parents' perception of neonatal safety.

• This study explores parent's opinion about safety of their child during the hospitalization.

• Our findings suggest that parents can provide valuable information to identify improvement areas.

Keywords

patient safety - parent perception - newborn - neonatal safety - NICU - intermediate care

Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 09. Dezember 2020

Angenommen: 10. März 2021

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
10. Mai 2021

• References

• 1 Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care. https://www.ipfcc.org/about/pfcc.html
• 2 Cox ED, Jacobsohn GC, Rajamanickam VP. et al. A family-centered rounds checklist, family engagement, and patient safety: a randomized trial. Pediatrics 2017; 139 (05) e20161688
• 3 Khan A, Furtak SL, Melvin P, Rogers JE, Schuster MA, Landrigan CP. Parent-reported errors and adverse events in hospitalized children. JAMA Pediatr 2016; 170 (04) e154608
• 4 Cox ED, Hansen K, Rajamanickam VP. et al. Are parents who feel the need to watch over their children's care better patient safety partners?. Hosp Pediatr 2017; 7 (12) 716-722
• 5 Hoffman JM, Keeling NJ, Forrest CB. et al. Priorities for pediatric patient safety research. Pediatrics 2019; 143 (02) e20180496
• 6 Cox ED, Carayon P, Hansen KW. et al. Parent perceptions of children's hospital safety climate. BMJ Qual Saf 2013; 22 (08) 664-671
• 7 Lyndon A, Jacobson CH, Fagan KM, Wisner K, Franck LS. Parents' perspectives on safety in neonatal intensive care: a mixed-methods study. BMJ Qual Saf 2014; 23 (11) 902-909
• 8 Ottosen MJ, Engebretson J, Etchegaray J, Arnold C, Thomas EJ. An ethnography of parents' perceptions of patient safety in the neonatal intensive care unit. Adv Neonatal Care 2019; 19 (06) 500-508
• 9 Lantz B, Ottosson C. Neonatal intensive care practices: perceptions of parents, professionals, and managers. Adv Neonatal Care 2014; 14 (03) E1-E12
• 10 Latour JM, Hazelzet JA, Duivenvoorden HJ, van Goudoever JB. Perceptions of parents, nurses, and physicians on neonatal intensive care practices. J Pediatr 2010; 157 (02) 215-220.e3
• 11 Evaluación de la percepción de los pacientes sobre la seguridad de los servicios sanitarios: diseño y validación preliminar. Madrid: Ministerio de Sanidad y Política Social; 2009 . NIPO: 840–10–092–3
• 12 Perneger T. The Council of Europe recommendation Rec(2006)7 on management of patient safety and prevention of adverse events in health care. Int J Qual Health Care 2008; 20 (05) 305-307
• 13 Berger Z, Flickinger TE, Pfoh E, Martinez KA, Dy SM. Promoting engagement by patients and families to reduce adverse events in acute care settings: a systematic review. BMJ Qual Saf 2014; 23 (07) 548-555
• 14 Aagaard H, Hall EOC, Ludvigsen MS, Uhrenfeldt L, Fegran L. Parents' experiences of neonatal transfer. A meta-study of qualitative research 2000-2017. Nurs Inq 2018; 25 (03) e12231
• 15 Raju TN, Suresh G, Higgins RD. Patient safety in the context of neonatal intensive care: research and educational opportunities. Pediatr Res 2011; 70 (01) 109-115