Perception of parents on nursing support rendered to parents with neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care unit in a state hospital in Windhoek, Namibia

Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) plays a major role in providing care for premature neonates, sick neonates or neonates require surgery very soon following delivery. The experience of being a parent of a baby in NICU is more stressful especially if there is a little support or no support rendered from the nursing staff. Parents need support from the nursing staff to gain knowledge and understanding about the neonate’s illness, treatment measures and hospital rules. However, no studies about this issue have been conducted in Namibia. The aim of this study was to investigate the perception of parents related to the nursing support rendered by nurses to parents whose neonates were admitted to NICU at a state hospital in Windhoek, Namibia. A quantitative, cross sectional survey was used to identify and describe parents’ perceptions related to the nursing support rendered by nurses to parents whose neonates were admitted to NICU. The study results indicated that the majority of the participants perceived that they got the good support from the nurses. However, not all parents received needed support from nurses which could increases their stress level. The findings of this study could be used to improve the parents support to reduce stress among parents and neonates and to promote positive coping with regard to the stressful situation of newborns hospitalization.