Virtual Family-Centered Rounds Is an Effective Tool to Bridge Gaps in Communications and to Improve Family Experience in the NICU

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh embraces family-centered care. Family presence at the bedside is vital for ongoing communication, discharge preparation, and shared decision‐making.

In some instances, it may be a challenge for parents to be at their infant's bedside due to work commitments, geographical challenges, or the need to care for other siblings or family members.

“Given how long some of our most fragile and medically complex neonates may need to remain in the NICU, it can put a lot of strain on the family who wants to be in the room with their baby every moment yet has other aspects of their lives that need attention,” says Abeer Azzuqa, MD, clinical director of the NICU at UPMC Children’s and medical director of Neonatal Telemedicine for the UPMC Newborn Medicine Program.

About the New Virtual Family-Centered Rounds

Recently, UPMC's NICUs began offering real-time real virtual connection with parents to enhance communication between parents and the medical team in the NICU. This effort has led to improvements in parents' satisfaction with communication and has become particularly helpful for parents and caregivers who are not able to be at the bedside during daily multidisciplinary NICU rounds.

In addition, the NICU staff reported that direct communication might decrease miscommunication between team members and families.

“For those times parents cannot be at the bedside to hear directly what is currently happening medically with their infant, the virtual connection still affords direct access to what’s going on,” says Dr. Azzuqa.

In addition, the UPMC Newborn Medicine program offers interrupters for language diverse family. There are a whole host of reasons why making interpreters available are vital for parents with infants in the NICU, as language-diverse families may have difficulty fully participating in Family-Centered Rounds, and receiving education about their child’s care.

“It’s crucial that parents and family can fully comprehend the information being presented to them in order to make informed decisions,” says Dr. Azzuqa. “That can be very difficult to do if you don’t speak the language.”

Beyond that, it also brings a level of emotional support for families. Having interpreters available works to build trust between the medical teams and the parents when language barriers are removed.

“The entire concept of these virtual rounds and the addition of interpreter services can help us with collaborative care and also continuity of care,” says Dr. Azzuqa. “Ongoing communication and family centered care is so important to what we do in the NICU – between ourselves as providers and with families. It goes a long way to achieving the best outcomes possible for the infant, but it also ensures a high level of transparency and active family involvement that may have beneficial effects on their overall experience while helping to reduce parental anxiety."