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Mother–clinician discussions in the neonatal intensive care unit: agree to disagree?

Journal of Perinatology volume 33, pages 278–281 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

To compare mothers’ and clinicians’ understanding of an infant’s illness and perceptions of discussion quality in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Study Design:

English-speaking mothers with an infant admitted to the intensive care unit for at least 48 h were interviewed using a semi-structured survey. The clinician whom the mother had spoken to and identified was also surveyed. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed.

Result:

A total of 101 mother–clinician pairs were interviewed. Most mothers (89%) and clinicians (92%) felt that their discussions had gone well. Almost all mothers could identify one of their infant’s diagnoses (100%) and treatments (93.4%). Mothers and clinicians disagreed on infant illness severity 45% of the time. The majority of mothers (62.5%) who disagreed with clinician estimate of infant illness severity believed their infant to be less sick than indicated by the clinician.

Conclusion:

Mother–clinician satisfaction with communication does not ensure mother–clinician agreement about an infant’s medical status.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank all the mothers who agreed to share their personal experiences with us in the midst of their infant’s hospitalization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, Baltimore, MD, USA

    S de Wit, P K Donohue, J Shepard & R D Boss

  2. Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    P K Donohue

Authors
  1. S de Wit
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  2. P K Donohue
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  3. J Shepard
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  4. R D Boss
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Correspondence to R D Boss.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on Journal of Perinatology website

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de Wit, S., Donohue, P., Shepard, J. et al. Mother–clinician discussions in the neonatal intensive care unit: agree to disagree?. J Perinatol 33, 278–281 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2012.103

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