Reflective Peer Consultation as an Intervention for Staff Support in the NICU

Professional staff members in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) implementing the Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) expressed the need for enhancement of their well-being. The Neurorelational Framework (Lillas and Turnbull, 2009) served as a guide for supporting staff education about the science of brain development and function and the provision of trauma-informed care. This paper describes an innovative pilot project implementing a reflective peer consultation group (RPC) facilitated by an infant psychiatrist. The RPC group provided opportunities for education about stress and triggers to stressful responses, and promoted staff reflection as well as strategies to promote stress recovery. Staff reported improved physical and emotional well-being after participating in RPC groups. Additionally, group members implemented changes to their clinical practices with infants and their parents in the NICU to facilitate recovery from stress in intensive care units.