<p>The current study sought to examine certified child life specialists’ perspectives on supporting siblings of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The intent of the study was to identify the types of support available, barriers to offering support, the individuals who offers support and the effectiveness of interventions by certified child life specialists with siblings of infants in the NICU. Sixty-eight certified child life specialists were surveyed regarding their work supporting siblings of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Results support previous literature suggesting that there are many barriers to offering support to siblings in the hospital, including: staff availability, space constraints, funding, and visitation policies. In addition, results demonstrated that provided supports still vary widely from hospital to hospital and certified child life specialists are the individuals who are most likely to offer support when it is available. Furthermore, the certified child life specialists surveyed view their interventions with siblings of infants in the NICU as effective or very effective. In conclusion, these findings support the need to increase the presence of certified child life specialists in the NICU in order to adequately meet the psychosocial needs of siblings. </p><p> <i>Keywords</i>: certified child life specialists, child life interventions, siblings, neonatal intensive care unit, NICU </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:1588940 |
| Date | 18 June 2015 |
| Creators | Susmani, Krystle Anne |
| Publisher | Mills College |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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