An examination of factors thought to influence observational learning of young mothers from nurses in the neonatal intensive care setting

The purpose of this study was to examine factors thought to influence observational learning of young mothers from nurses in the Neonatal Intensive Care setting. King's theoretical framework and Bandura's social learning theory provided a basis for selection of these factors: maternal age, interest in learning about parenting, knowledge about parenting, degree of expected caregiving of the infant after discharge, perception of the nurse as a parenting resource, and visiting time.;Fifty-eight mothers from Maine and Michigan hospitals participated in the study. Thirty-four completed the questionnaires on admission and discharge of their infants, and 24 mothers completed only the first set. For this sample, the levels of interest in learning about parenting, knowledge about parenting and perception of the nurse as a resource were initially high, and did not change significantly over the course of the infant's hospitalization. For this sample, several of the variables believed to influence learning were significantly correlated. Interest in learning about parenting and parenting knowledge were both correlated with perception of the nurse as a resource. Change in knowledge about parenting was significantly associated with perception of the nurse as a resource at Time 2 but not at Time 1. Age was not correlated significantly with any of the variables. Due to the small convenience sample, inferences cannot be made beyond the sample obtained for this study.;These findings suggest that those mothers who were most interested in learning and knew the most about parenting to begin with were most likely to see the nurse as a resource. Orientation of mothers to the nurse's role at the beginning or prior to an infant's hospitalization may relate to the initial high level of perception of the nurse as a resource, and the negligible change in scores over time. The findings also suggest that mothers' initial perceptions of the nurse are less relevant to learning than their perceptions of the nurse at the time of their infant's discharge. Results of this study indicate a need for a more valid instrument to measure unique aspects of learning about parenting that take place in the NICU. Based on the findings of this study and the methodological limitations, directions for future research are discussed, with a goal to generate knowledge about the nature of the relationship between young mothers and NICU nurses, and the phenomenon of learning to care of a newborn infant in the NICU setting.