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September 7, 2010
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Foundation News
NICU Parent Peer Support Group receives grant 2/19/2010
Staff members from The Medical Center Nursery and NICU have been working since last
summer to establish a peer support group for parents of pretermnewborns. The group received
a recent boost in the form of an $8,800 community grant from the March of Dimes
Greater Kentucky State Chapter. TheMedical Center’s project was one of only four projects funded throughout the state by the March of Dimes grant.
Applying for the grant was a timely andmultidepartmental
effort, according to Debbie Smith,
Charge Nurse for the Nursery and NICU.“We have a
core committee comprised of representatives from
the Nursery and NICU, Human Resources, Risk
Management, Education, Marketing and a few
parents of former NICU patients,” said Debbie. “It
was a lengthy process, but the effort has been well
worth it. Now we’ll be able to put all of our plans
into action.”
The group, named NICU P.E.A.S. (Parent
Education And Support), will enable parents of
NICU babies to talk to and share their feelings with
a “support parent”who has been in a similar situation.
Currently, the support parents are being selected
by a committee of NICU nursing staff. Support parents will be trained for their role and
will be instructed on coping skills and ways to be
good listeners without offering opinions and/or
advice.
It is planned for the support parent to visit with
parents of the preemie or sick newborn as quickly
as possible after delivery to see what they can do
to provide needed emotional support. At the request
of the newborn’s parents, the support parent
will arrange to spend additional time with the new
parents. The support parents and the nursing staff
will combine efforts to help parents cope andmaintain
healthy attitudes to nurture their newborn during
the hospital stay. Additionally, the support
group will host a weekly meeting to help new parents
adjust to their situation.
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