Empowering Mothers With Hospitalized Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Through Integrated Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Family Integrated Care is designed to eliminate the barriers between parents and their infants in the NICU by involving parents of premature infants in their care. Parents are integrated into both the healthcare team and the care of their infant. Through this approach, parents are informed about how they can contribute to their infant's overall development, including neurological and sensory development, motor and behavioral progress, as well as practices such as touch, bonding, skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding, and increasing breast milk production. They are also educated on general hygiene and care tasks such as diaper changing and body cleaning. This model places importance on the protection and enhancement of both the physical and psychological well-being of the parent and the infant. During this process, parents move beyond being mere visitors in the unit to becoming active participants and members of the care team. Family integrated care aims to support parents in becoming the primary caregivers for their infants, both during hospitalization and after discharge. This model not only provides education and counseling but also supports the family's comprehensive involvement in the infant's care.
• The newborn must be premature (gestational age \>28 and \<34 weeks),
• The infant must be admitted to the NICU and hospitalized for at least 3 days,
• The mother must be open to communication and cooperation,
• The mother must voluntarily agree to participate in the study,
• The mother must be literate,
• The mother must be able to speak and understand Turkish,
• The mother must be primiparous and experiencing motherhood for the first time,
• The mother must be over 18 years of age,
• Mothers in the intervention group must be present in the hospital for an average of 6-8 hours per day.