Neonatal nurses’ perception of the prevalence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in parents whose infants are admitted to a neonatal unit in Northern Ireland

Key findings from this study

• The study found that 100% of responding neonatal nurses agreed parents experience trauma during NNU admission, with most estimating maternal PTSD prevalence at 71-80% and paternal prevalence at 61-70%.
• The researchers identified five domains of perceived parental trauma, with parent-infant separation and disconnection comprising 35% of reported stressors.
• The authors report that 88% of neonatal nurses perceived mental health provision for neonatal parents in Northern Ireland to be inadequate.

Overview

This study examined neonatal nurses' perceptions of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevalence among parents of infants admitted to neonatal units (NNUs) in Northern Ireland. Sixty-one neonatal nurses completed a five-question digital survey during a regional conference, providing quantitative estimates and open-text descriptions of perceived parental stressors. The research characterizes professional perception rather than epidemiological measurement of actual PTSD prevalence.

Methods and approach

Researchers recruited a purposive sample of 61 neonatal nurses at a regional Neonatal Nurses Association conference in April 2024. Participants completed an anonymous digital survey via QR code containing quantitative and open-text items. Response rates ranged from 68.9% to 83.6% across questions. Open-text responses (n = 121) underwent inductive content analysis to identify perceived trauma triggers and stressors.

Results

All 42 respondents to the prevalence question agreed that parents experience trauma during NNU admission. Most nurses estimated maternal PTSD prevalence at 71-80% and paternal prevalence at 61-70%. Content analysis identified five trauma domains: Separation and Disconnection from the Baby (35% of responses), Clinical Procedures and Interventions (27%), Unexpected and Critical Situations (19%), Emotional Responses to Neonatal Parenting (12%), and Neonatal Environment and Stimuli (7%). Eighty-eight percent of respondents perceived perinatal mental health provision for neonatal parents as inadequate.

Implications

Neonatal nurses demonstrate heightened awareness of parental psychological vulnerability during infant hospitalization. Professional perception identifies separation from the infant, invasive clinical procedures, and emergency events as primary trauma drivers. This perception-based assessment, while not measuring clinical PTSD, reflects frontline observation of distressed parents and suggests substantial unmet psychological support needs.
The high proportion of nurses perceiving inadequate mental health provision indicates potential service gaps in Northern Ireland's neonatal care system. Nurses are positioned to observe parental distress longitudinally but may lack formal mechanisms to refer parents for psychological assessment or intervention. Integration of perinatal mental health screening and support into standard NNU protocols could address identified gaps.
Findings suggest that neonatal nursing leadership should consider trauma-informed care approaches. These approaches would target the identified stressor domains, particularly parent-infant separation and procedural transparency. Further research using validated PTSD instruments and structured clinical assessments could verify or refute nurses' prevalence estimates.

Scope and limitations

This summary is based on the study abstract and available metadata. It does not include a full analysis of the complete paper, supplementary materials, or underlying datasets unless explicitly stated. Findings should be interpreted in the context of the original publication.