NICUに入院した児の両親の不安と両親への援助 <特別論文>

NICUに入院した児の母親の早期ケアは,産後抑うつの予防のために重視されている.われわれのグループはNICUに入院した母親の早期ケアのための手がかりを得るために両親の不安についての研究をおこなってきた.STAIにもとづき不安の量的検討をおこなったところ,両親の不安は,児との初回面会前後に高いが,1ケ月後,1年後には低下し,普通のレベルを維持することを明らかにした.さらにアンケート調査によって不安を質的に検討したところ,両親の不安は児をみる,児に触れるといったかかわり経験によって短期間に処理されると考えられた.父親に,母親の児との初回面会時の支持者としての役割を期待するためには,父親の不安が看若者によって汲んでもらえたと感じることの重要性を指摘し,看護者にカウンセリング・マインドの必要性を示唆した.

Early intervention to mothers of babies who were admitted to NICU may prevent postpartum mental disorders. For early intervention, we studied anxiety of parents of babies who were hospitalized to NICU. Quantitative analysis of anxiety on the basis of STAI indicated that the anxiety level of both the mother and the father was extraordinary high at a few days postpartum and it was normal at one month postpartum. Qualitative analysis of description of mental state after being given information about their baby's medical condition and seeing real suggested that they coped with their anxiety during a specific behavior such as touching. Even his anxiety was very high the father could support his wife when she saw her baby for the first time. It was concluded that one of early interventions of nurses was to make the father ease his anxiety before contacting with his partner by counseling.