Impact of Increased Parent Presence in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit on Parent & Infant Outcomes

May 27, 2026 updated by: Susan Horner, PhD, Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Impact of Increased Parent Presence in the NICU on Parent & Infant Outcomes

The purpose of this pilot study is to compare parent and infant outcomes and unit outcomes pre and post a planned unit-wide intervention aimed at increasing parent presence in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The FCC intervention will consist of communicating an expectation that all NICU parents be present at minimum 4 hours/day versus the current practice of telling families to "come as much as they can" that has resulted in inconsistent parent presence.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Family centered care (FCC) is becoming the standard of care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and many benefits of FCC programs are reported in the literature. However, the integration of FCC practices remains inconsistent in NICUs and many families do not fully access available FCC supports. As a result NICU families continue to report feelings of powerlessness, stress, depression and lack of confidence in their ability to care for their infants at home. Studies of increased family presence in the NICU (8hours/day and 24/hours/day) have reported promising results for infants and families, but these studies report on programs implemented outside of the US. It is not known whether a program requiring fewer hours/day of parent presence, which may be a better fit with current US family demographics and policies, would demonstrate similar benefits. The purpose of this pilot study is to compare parent and infant outcomes and unit outcomes pre and post a planned unit-wide intervention aimed at increasing parent presence in the NICU. The FCC intervention will consist of communicating an expectation that all NICU parents be present at minimum 4 hours/day versus the current practice of telling families to "come as much as they can" that has resulted in inconsistent parent presence. Following informed consent, data will be collected on up to 45 NICU infants and families pre- and post- the intervention for a total sample of up to 90. Infant measures will include Salivary Cortisol levels, Infant weight gain, Length of Stay and Feeding route at discharge as well as rates of Family Visiting, Traditional Holding, Kangaroo Care (KC), and Breastfeeding. Parent measures will include Salivary Cortisol Levels and reported stress using the Parent Stress Scale: NICU. Unit-wide data will also be collected pre- and post- the intervention. Unit wide measures will include rates of Visitation, KC, Breastfeeding, Nosocomial Infections, IV infiltrates, Medication Errors and Incident (SERS) report rates.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

191

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
        • Ann & Robert H Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60148
        • Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Children's Memorial Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

1 day to 3 months (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Less than 2 weeks of age
  • Must be admitted to NICU

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previously discharged home
  • <28 weeks gestation
  • Anticipated hospital stay > 3 months

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Pre-FCC Intervention
Pre-intervention group. No intervention will be administered.
Active Comparator: Post-FCC Intervention
Following unit-wide implementation of FCC intervention consisting of communicating to families an expectation that they spend 4 hours per day in the NICU with their infants.
Other: FCC intervention
Communication to all NICU families that they should be in the NICU a minimum of 4 hours/day.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Parent Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU)
Time Frame: Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.
Measured at baseline (NICU admission, from birth to 2 weeks of infant age) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days using validated Parent Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Measure uses a 5 level Likert scale from not experienced (0) to extremely stressful (4). Higher score indicated more stress experienced. Total score used was calculated using average of subscale scores. Total score range also 0-4 units on scale.
Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.
Infant Salivary Cortisol
Time Frame: Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.
Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days in Nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml).
Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.
Family Visiting Rate
Time Frame: Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.
Rate of family visiting in hours per day
Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Length of Stay in Days
Time Frame: Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.
Infant length of stay in days in the NICU. Measured from baseline (NICU admission at birth) to NICU discharge (an average of 47 days).
Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.
Parent Kangaroo Care Rate
Time Frame: Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.
Rate of Kangaroo Care (skin to skin holding of infant by a parent) in hours per day
Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.
Mothers Breastfeeding Rate
Time Frame: Measured at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days from NICU admission.
Number of mothers providing breastmilk at NICU discharge
Measured at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days from NICU admission.

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Infant Weight Gain in Grams/Day
Time Frame: Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.
Average weight gain in grams/day measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.
Measured at baseline (NICU admission at birth) and at NICU discharge, an average of 47 days.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Susan M Horner, MS, Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 1, 2014

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 30, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

September 30, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 9, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 11, 2016

First Posted (Estimated)

September 15, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 29, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 27, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2014-15866 Horner

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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