Family-Centered Care of the Surgical Neonate

When infants require surgery, the family experiences a crisis. Surgical care of the infant and their family requires constant information sharing between health care providers (HCPs) and families. Parents' information needs and their readiness to learn vary along the infant's trajectory of healing. Information is acquired by parents from many sources and over time parents become an important source of information during the infant's stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Family-centered approaches in all phases of surgical care (preoperative, postoperative and preparation for discharge) empowers and supports parents and ultimately leads to optimal outcomes.