The hospitalisation of a newborn is a stressful experience for parents, which can cause parents to experience a variety of needs. This study aimed to compare the parents’ and health personnel’ viewpoints regarding parents’ needs in the neonatal intensive care units (NICU). A total of 189 parents whose infants were hospitalised in the Clinical Department of Neonatology of the Pediatric Clinic UMC Ljubljana and 33 health personnel working at the same department were included in the study. Data were collected using an adapted version of the Neonatal Family Needs Inventory (NFNI; Kelley Ward, 1999), a questionnaire completed by parents of newborns treated in the neonatal unit and by health personnel. The results showed that parents rated the needs for proximity and assurance as the most important, followed by the need for information, then the need for support, and finally the need for comfort. Health personnel rated the needs of parents in a similar order, rating the needs for assurance and proximity as the most important, followed by the needs for information, support and comfort. We further found that parents, compared to health personnel, rated the needs for proximity, assurance and information as more important. Parents who stayed in the hospital expressed higher needs for support and information; parents whose newborn was treated for a more extended period expressed lower needs for proximity; and parents with a higher level of education expressed lower needs for information. Based on the study's findings, we highlight the key needs of parents of hospitalised newborns and point to the importance of health personnel understanding these needs, which is essential to improve the quality of newborn care and increase parental satisfaction and psychological well-being.
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