Comparison of Parental Stress in Premature Infants Admitted in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

Birth of premature infants that require hospitalization in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) leads to a lot of stress and shock for the parents because of disorder in playing their parental role, loss of control, and separation from the infant. The present study aimed to assess the stress level in parents of the premature infants admitted in NICU.
This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on the parents of the premature infants hospitalized in NICU selected through convenience sampling. The data were gathered from 42 fathers and 58 mothers using Miles and Funk parental stressor scale: NICU, 2011 on the second day of admission. Then, the data were entered into the SPSS statistical software and analyzed using t-test.
The mean scores of stress were 94.63±17.24 and 84.16±20.55 in mothers and fathers, respectively. The results of independent t-test showed a significant difference between the fathers’ and mothers’ mean scores of stress (t=2.76, df=98, P=0.007).
The results of this study showed that the mean score of stress was higher in mothers compared to fathers. Therefore, medical team, especially NICU nurses, should provide more information, attention, and support for the parents through their infants’ hospitalization period.