Stressors and Coping Strategies among Parents with Premature Infant

Abstract

Background: Premature infants experience many problems during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Premature birth creates a sense of loss in family members, especially mothers, and causes tension and stress. Aim: This study aims to a assess stressors and coping strategies among parents with premature infant. Design: A descriptive research design was utilized in this study. Setting: This study was conducted at al Raml children hospital (neonatal intensive care unit) Alexandria city. subjects: Convenient sample of (50 parents of premature infant) were selected. Tools: Tool І: Interviewing Questionnaire, ІI: The Parent stressor scale (PSS NICU), ІII: Ways of Coping check list (WCCL). Results: the majority of the parents in the studied sample mentioned that near to one third of parents had mild stress, more than one quarters of them had moderate stress, near to half of them had severe stress level and increasing parents age lead to increase mean scores of stress due to changes in infant appearance and decrease parent infant relationship stressor with statistically significance differences. Conclusion: most types of stressors; changes in the infant appearance was the highest mean scores followed by changes in sight and unit light, then dealing with health team staff and lowest mean percent was parent infant relationship. Concerning, most coping strategies; parents seeking social support for instrumental reason had high mean percent followed by turning to religion, then denial of illness. Also, parents had more than half of mean percent in express of feeling, wishful thinking, behavioral restructuring, self-criticism and social support for emotional reason. Recommendations: Nurses should provide educational classes for parents about preterm infants to elevate their level of health awareness about disease and its care in outpatient clinics.