Nursing Behaviors which Facilitate the Grief Work of Parents with Premature Infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Comparison of Mothers and Fathers

BACKGROUND: The birth of a child is an event to be remembered. However, a premature birth may shock the parents and cause their grief. Understanding differences between mothers and fathers can help nurses in providing nursing supports. OBJECTIVES: This study was performed with the aim of comparing nursing behaviors which facilitate grief work for parents of premature infants hospitalized in the NICU from perspectives of mothers and fathers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This comparative descriptive design was conducted among 40 pairs of mothers and fathers selected by convenience sampling method. The study was performed in 2011 using the Fordham Scale (1989). Data were analyzed with "wilcoxon ranks test" by using SPSS software version 13. RESULTS: The mean scores of nursing behaviors which facilitate grief work were 2.81 ± 0.16 and 2.82 ± 0.29 in the perspectives of mothers and fathers, respectively. The Wilcoxon test did not show any statistically significant difference between mothers and fathers (P = 0.55). CONCLUSIONS: Despite expectations, provided nursing behaviors in mothers and fathers showed no difference in this study. Therefore, nursing policymakers and directors should take measures in order to provide appropriate services to the parents.