Consultation in the Intensive Care Nursery

Abstract

The paper describes a group-oriented mental health consultation program which was established for the staff of a pediatric special care nursery. The initial phase of consultation was designed 1) to deal with work stresses in providing acute medical care for premature infants who are at high risk for later emotional and developmental disturbances; and 2) to facilitate intrastaff communication in an atmosphere of strenuous physical demands from patients, and moral dilemmas raised by infants' life-threatening conditions. Also discussed are problems experienced by staff in providing psychological support to families of hospitalized infants. The author reviews implications for crisis intervention to help mitigate families' mental stress and to facilitate the emotional attachment to their infants.