The aim of this study was to describe how the parents of premature infants experience
the transportation of their baby from the neonatal intensive care unit at a university
hospital (NICU-U) to such a unit at a local hospital (NICU-L). This descriptive qualitative
study comprises interviews with nine sets of parents and two mothers. The qualitative
content analysis resulted in one theme: living in uncertainty about whether the baby
will survive, and three categories: being distanced from the baby; fearing that something
would happen to the baby during transportation; and experiencing closeness to the
baby. The results also revealed that the parents experienced developmental, situational
and health–illness transitions.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 10, 2014
Accepted:
January 24,
2014
Received in revised form:
January 23,
2014
Received:
April 22,
2013
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
