Nurses Experiences in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Aim of the research: To detect nurses experiences in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Qualitative research question. What are nurses’ experiences in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit? Methods of the research. The research was conducted using a qualitative phenomenological method. The data were collected from June 2012 to December 2012, in Kaunas Perinatal Center at Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The research involved ten informants - nurses working at NICU. The informants were selected by purposive sampling. Individual open interview method was used for data collection. Each interview lasted from 40 to 90 minutes. All interviews were tipe recorded and transcribed verbatim. While analyzing interviews, researchers noted their interpretations and associations. The identified codes were merged into subthemes and general themes were identified. Data analysis was performed using the data trangulation and researchers‘trangulation. It ensured validity and credibility of this study. Insights. Nurses in their professional work at Neonental Intensive Care Unit face with strong emotional, internal feelings and questions to which they do not have answers. They have answers neither for parents nor for themselves. One of the most difficult emotional experiences is the death of the newborn. Nurses' lack of knowledge about how to deal with the parents at the moment of the death newborn and because of that they do not know what is right, the survey participants think of themselves how they would deal with this situation and what help would they need for themselves. Communication with parents during the critical situations is one of the most difficult experiences of nurses working in neonatal intensive care unit. Participants of the research understand parents' anxiety and the fear when they have the premature newborn. They care for the newborns professionally, communicate willingly and teach parents in an effort to help them to get involved in their baby's nursing. Nurses are the connecting link between the parents and the baby, they understand that the premature baby and parents need each other and because of those nurses teaches parents to care for their premature baby. Thus, they take the role of a tender and controller. Nurses try to communicate with parents and teach them how to care for a premature baby but most of them do not give other information to parents. Such behavior of nurses is determined by reluctance to go beyond the limits of competence and lack of knowledge about how to behave in difficult situations and sometimes just lack of time due to the large workload