Föräldranärvaro på en svensk neonatalavdelning

Purpose: To map parents’ time present with their child during a 24-hour period at a neonatal care unit, and to describe what facilitates respectively obstructs, their presence. Method: Parents (N=23) responded to a presence survey. The time present was summarized and differences calculated with Mann Whitney U-test. Answers from open questions were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Result: During the 24-hour period, the parents spent about eight hours giving their child skin-to-skin care, and the same number of hours next to the child at the point of care. One hour parents spent at the unit, but not in the same room as the child, and their time away amounted to about five hours. Parents whose children were cared for in a collective room spent longer time next to the child at the point of care than parents whose children were cared in an intensive care room. Parents whose children were cared for in an intensive care room spent more time in the neonatal care unit, but not in the same room as the child, and spent longer time away than parents whose children were cared for in a collective care room. Mothers cared for their babies skin-to-skin for a longer time than the fathers. Categories in the facilitating factors were the staff role, involvement and closeness, environment, family members and friends. Obstructing factors were the environment, staff role and separation and private reasons. Conclusion: The parents spent most of the 24-hour period near their children. The staff role and the environment could be seen as both facilitating and obstructing factors.