Educating Perinatal Nurses to Promote Bonding Techniques and Increase Support of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Parents

NICU treatment team members and perinatal nurses must strive to educate parents and promote parent/infant bonding; failure to do so can result in poor emotional well-being of the parent. Supportive behaviors of nursing staff, and the promotion of bonding techniques inside and outside of the NICU setting can provide aid to parents throughout their NICU journey. However, perinatal nurses are often not provided the necessary knowledge and skills to promote parental bonding, emotional support, empowerment, and education to parents whose infants are unexpectedly admitted to the NICU. Purpose: The purpose of this DNP project was to increase perinatal nurses’ knowledge about parental bonding, emotional support, and empowerment so that they could provide better support to parents whose infants are unexpectedly admitted to the NICU. Method: This project was accomplished through a nursing centered education initiative highlighting the knowledge and skills surrounding the topic of maternal-infant bonding to better support parents with infants admitted to the NICU. The education initiative was implemented on a women’s unit designated to care for women during the antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum periods. The author assessed the effectiveness of the education initiative by utilizing an 8-question post-survey handout which was rated on a 5-point Likert scale. The survey assessed the participant’s knowledge, perception of the education content following the in-service, and the likelihood of implementing new knowledge into bedside nursing practice. Results: The overarching goal of this project was to ensure that following the education presentation, perinatal nurses would be able to utilize a family centered care approach to their nursing practice, and provide a more supportive environment that promotes bonding for parents of infants in the NICU. The data reflected positive feelings towards the education content of the in-service, which demonstrates a strong likelihood of a positive change in knowledge base and nursing practice regarding bonding promotion to parents of infants in the NICU