Hope, disclosure, and control in the neonatal intensive care unit

Margo Charchuk, Christy Simpson

Résultat de recherche: Review articleexamen par les pairs

24 Citations (Scopus)

Résumé

The parents of critically ill newborns who have been admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) generally face several challenges. Included in these challenges is the possibility of having access to information and a certain level of disclosure about the diagnosis, treatment options, and prognosis for their newborn. A related challenge is the ability to have some control over the care of their newborn. In this article, I (first author) share my own experiences of having a child admitted to an NICU, and I discuss how a lack of disclosure affected the decision making and involvement I had in my child's care and hindered my ability to find hope. A loss of hope can both contribute to a sense of powerlessness and exacerbate the negative aspects of these NICU experiences. I argue that when health care providers offer parents the disclosure they want and need, as well as a certain amount of control over the care of their child while in the NICU, the ability of parents to find hope will be increased, and they will be better able to cope successfully in the NICU environment.

Langue d'origineEnglish
Pages (de-à)191-203
Nombre de pages13
JournalHealth Communication
Volume17
Numéro de publication2
DOI
Statut de publicationPublished - 2005

Note bibliographique

Funding Information:
This article was completed as part of an independent study at the Hope Foundation of Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Christy Simpson. Margo Charchuk has an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Alberta. She is now obtaining a master’s degree in human ecology. As a side note, Connor is now 11 years old and a very healthy and happy NICU graduate.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Health(social science)
  • Communication

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