SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

 
vol.38 issue2Exploring the challenges of implementing participatory action research in the context of HIV and poverty author indexsubject indexarticles search
Home Pagealphabetic serial listing  

Services on Demand

Article

Indicators

Related links

  • On index processCited by Google
  • On index processSimilars in Google

Share


Curationis

On-line version ISSN 2223-6279
Print version ISSN 0379-8577

Abstract

MUSABIREMA, Priscille; BRYSIEWICZ, Petra  and  CHIPPS, Jennifer. Parents perceptions of stress in a neonatal intensive care unit in Rwanda. Curationis [online]. 2015, vol.38, n.2, pp.1-8. ISSN 2223-6279.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/curationis.v38i2.1499.

BACKGROUND: Having a newborn infant hospitalised in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is an unexpected and stressful event for a family. A number of potential stressors to which family members of patients in these units may be exposed have been identified, although no studies about this issue have been conducted in Rwanda AIM: The aim of this study was to describe and analyse parental perception of stress that resulted from having their infant admitted to a NICU in Kigali, Rwanda METHOD: A quantitative survey was used to describe and analyse parents' perceptions of stress when they had an infant admitted to a NICU. The Parental Stress Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was used to measure the level of stress that those parents experienced RESULTS: The results indicated that parents experienced stress from having their infants cared for in a NICU. The most stressful events were the appearance and behaviour of the baby with a mean score of 4.02, whilst the subscale items related to sights and sounds were found to be the least significant source of stress for parents with a mean score of 2.51. In addition, the current study found that parents' age, educational level, occupation, and infant birth weight were associated with parental stress CONCLUSION: The study established that a range of factors was responsible for parental stress when a baby was cared for in a NICU. Identification of these factors could enable health professionals from a hospital in Kigali, Rwanda, to facilitate parents' adjusting and coping.

        · text in English     · English ( pdf )

 

Creative Commons License All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License