6533b872fe1ef96bd12d430f

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Parents' experiences of neonatal transfer. A meta-study of qualitative research 2000-2017.

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Transfers of critically ill neonates are frequent phenomena. Even though parents’ participation is regarded as crucial in neonatal care, a transfer often means that parents and neonates are separated. A systematic review of the parents’ experiences of neonatal transfer is lacking. This paper describes a meta-study addressing qualitative research about parents’ experiences of neonatal transfer. Through deconstruction and reflections of theories, methods and empirical data, the aim was to achieve a deeper understanding of theoretical, empirical, contextual, historical and methodological issues of qualitative studies concerning parents’ experiences of neonatal transfer over the course of this meta-study (2000-2017). Meta-theory and meta-method analyses showed that caring, transition and family-centered care were main theoretical frames applied and that interviewing with a small number of participants was the preferred data collection method. The meta-data-analysis showed that transfer was a scary, unfamiliar and threatening experience for the parents; they were losing familiar context, were separated from their neonate and could feel their parenthood disrupted. We identified ‘wavering and wandering’ as a metaphoric representation of the parents’ experiences. The findings add knowledge about meta-study as an approach for comprehensive qualitative research and points at the value of meta-theory and meta-method analyses. Transfers of critically ill neonates are frequent phenomena. Even though parents’ par-ticipation is regarded as crucial in neonatal care, a transfer often means that parents and neonates are separated. A systematic review of the parents’ experiences of neo-natal transfer is lacking. This paper describes a meta- study addressing qualitative re-search about parents’ experiences of neonatal transfer. Through deconstruction and reflections of theories, methods, and empirical data, the aim was to achieve a deeper understanding of theoretical, empirical, contextual, historical, and methodological is-sues of qualitative studies concerning parents’ experiences of neonatal transfer over the course of this meta- study (2000–2017). Meta- theory and meta- method analyses showed that caring, transition, and family- centered care were main theoretical frames applied and that interviewing with a small number of participants was the preferred data collection method. The meta- data- analysis showed that transfer was a scary, un-familiar, and threatening experience for the parents; they were losing familiar context, were separated from their neonate, and could feel their parenthood disrupted. We identified ‘wavering and wandering’ as a metaphoric representation of the parents’ experiences. The findings add knowledge about meta- study as an approach for com-prehensive qualitative research and point at the value of meta- theory and meta- method analyses.