Mater Research Support Centre

Survey of Neonatal Nurses and Neonatologist
in
Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Australia and New Zealand

Introduction

This survey aims to identify current models for dealing with stress in NICUs for staff, mothers and babies in Australia and New Zealand Hospitals.

Low stress environments have been shown to enhance the capacity of staff to work, the ability of mothers and babies to bond and of infants to develop. As clinical staff in NICUs your input is invaluable. The results of this survey will be used to gain an understanding of current models and help develop ways of reducing stress.

We would like to obtain both a medical and nursing perspective regarding stress in the NICU environment; we therefore invite the Director of Neonatology, the Nurse Unit Manager and a Social Worker to participate.

Q1. What is the name of your Hospital ?

Q2. How long have you worked in the NICU at this Hospital ?

< 1 Year 1 - 3 Year(s) 4 - 5 Years 6 - 10 Years > 10 Years

Q3. What is your discipline ?

Neonatologist Neonatal Nurse Social Worker

Q4. How many years have you practiced in this discipline ?

< 1 Year 1 - 3 Year 4 - 5 Years 6 - 10 Years > 10 Years

Q5. How many admissions to the NICU each year ?

<1000/yr 1000/yr - 2000/yr 2000/yr - 3000/yr > 3000/yr

Q6. In the NICU in which you work, is there anyone who has responsibility for dealing with stress on a day-to-day
basis for:

Infants ? Yes No	Mothers ? Yes No	Staff ? Yes No
If Yes, please select a number in the ranking for all the applicable persons with 1 the most responsible:	If Yes, please select a number in the ranking for all the applicable persons with 1 the most responsible:	If Yes, please select a number in the ranking for all the applicable persons with 1 the most responsible:
Rank	Rank	Rank
Neonatologist	Neonatologist
Nurse	Nurse
Psychologist	Psychologist	Psychologist
Psychotherapist	Psychotherapist	Psychotherapist
Psychiatrist	Psychiatrist	Psychiatrist
Psychiatric Nurse	Psychiatric Nurse	Psychiatric Nurse
Pastoral Carer	Pastoral Carer	Pastoral Carer
Social Worker	Social Worker	Social Worker
Neonatal Trainee	Neonatal Trainee
Mother/Father
	Family	Family
Other, specify:	Other, specify:	Other, specify:

While these people you have chosen are available to be used, do you consider that they are currently underutilized in providing the support? Yes No Unsure	While these people you have chosen are available to be used, do you consider that they are currently underutilized in providing the support? Yes No Unsure	While these people you have chosen are available to be used, do you consider that they are currently underutilized in providing the support? Yes No Unsure

Q7. In the NICU whose dedicated job is it to deal with the psychological and emotional states generated by
critical events for all members of the NICU ? i.e. staff, parents, and babies.

No one

Neonatologist

Nurse

Psychologist

Psychotherapist

Psychiatrist

Social Workers

Other, specify

Q8. Is there a regular psycho-social meeting for staff to discuss patients ?

      Yes No

      If Yes, how often is the meeting held ?

      Regularly throughout their stay When necessary For discharge planning only

      Who generally attends these meetings ?

Q9. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following three statements:

In the NICU where I work, I am satisfied with the emotional support provided for:

Q10. Would you like to make any comments about what support is needed in NICU's ? ( < 50 words )

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.

Supported by Mater Research Support Centre 2007