Comfort Level of Parents Who Have Newborns in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Aim: this study aimed to determine the comfort level of parents who have infants in neonatal intensive care units. method: the study was conducted at the neonatal intensive care units of 5 hospitals in ankara, between march and may 2009. the study group was composed of parents who had newborns hospitalized at the mentioned time period. the method of creating study group was not sampling. the study group comprised of 176 parents (mother:136, father:40) who were contacted and agreed to participate in the study. data were generated by adapting the general comfort rating scale that has the validity and reliability studies in our country. the parent-newborn information form and the holistic comfort questionnaire for family having four subscales and three types were used in data collection. the data obtained were analyzed and evaluated by using independent-samples t test, one-way anova and chi-square test. results: the influence of parents' general comfort conditions and their satisfaction in process of visiting their babies, some medical characteristics of the infant, and the parents’ socio-demographic characteristics on the dimensions and types of comfort were assessed in the study. the mean holistic comfort questionnaire score of parents was 148 point and parents were assessed that had satisfactory levels of comfort during visiting their babies. a significant relationship was found between delivery and medical characteristics of infants and the comfort level of parents. the comfort level of parents was found to be related to the delivery and general medical conditions of their babies. length of hospitalization of infant and physical conditions of hospital found to not influence on parents' comfort score averages. another significant relationship was found between parents’ socio-demographic characteristics and the comfort level of parents. conclusion: recommendations to provide and support of parents’ comfort was made according to findings of the study.