Investigation of the effects of the corona virus pandemic on family centered care i̇n neonatal intensive care units

Abstract

During Covid-19 pandemic, as in other health areas, there have been changes in the delivery of health services in neonatal intensive care units to prevent the spread of the virus. One of them is family-centered care practices. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of Covid-19 on family-centered care practices in neonatal intensive care units. In the study, EBSCO, Scopus, Pubmed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Web of Science databases were searched using the keywords "Family-centered care", "Covid-19", "neonatal intensive care units", "parent", "restriction". Twenty studies examining the effects of the restrictions applied in the Covid-19 pandemic between 2020-2022 on family-centered care practices in neonatal intensive care unit were included. The systematic review determined that measures taken to spread epidemic in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic constitute an obstacle to implementation of family-centered care in neonatal intensive care units. It has been determined that stress level of families who are already experiencing intense stress due to measures taken in intensive care unit to prevent spread of Covid-19, the social support of the parents decreases, the development of parenting skills are adversely affected, and there are problems in participation in care and breastfeeding. It is estimated that some problems (nutrition, prolonged stress, etc.) may develop infants hospitalized in intensive care due to difficulties in providing family-centered care during Covid-19. For this reason, it is recommended to develop practices that will not prevent delivery of family-centered care in extraordinary situations such as pandemics. © 2024, Ankara University. All rights reserved.