Immigrant parents’ experiences of communicating with healthcare professionals at the neonatal unit: An interview study

• © 2019 Neonatal Nurses Association Background: When newborn children of immigrants require care in a neonatal unit, parents frequently encounter not only a new language, but also a new healthcare organisation. Aim: To examine parents’ experiences of communication with healthcare professionals in a neonatal unit when language barriers are present. Method: Twenty interviews were conducted with families who spoke Arabic and had a child who had been cared for at one of five neonatal care units, level II-III in western Sweden. The interviews were analysed using a phenomenological hermeneutic approach. Results: The main theme, having the opportunity to exercise one's parental role, included four themes encountering emotional warmth, feeling accepted, encountering a lack of understanding, and compensating for inadequate language skills. Conclusion: It is not only language barriers that affect communication between parents and healthcare professionals; different expectations and pre-understandings are also of importance.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Families

Immigrant

Interpreter

Neonatal unit

Phenomenological hermeneutics

Qualitative

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)