Recommendations on supporting neonatology healthcare givers from the French National Society

Aim: Healthcare givers are exposed to stress and therefore are at risk of the development of pathologies. We aimed to provide recommendations regarding psychosocial risks such as stress, moral distress, burnout syndrome or secondary stress syndrome in neonatal care units to best support neonatal healthcare givers.

Methods: We searched PubMed for articles published from 1 January 2017 to 1 December 2023 by using the keywords burnout OR (moral and distress) AND neonatal unit. Recommendations were developed after internal and external review by a multidisciplinary group including 15 professionals and parent representatives.

Results: We identified 207 studies and developed 15 recommendations based on 118 eligible studies. Recommendations to support neonatology healthcare givers were developed for the individual level, the collective or department level to organise the environment, the training of the team with communication sessions and team cohesion; and the institutional level to respect and organise working time.

Conclusion: Psychosocial risks have consequences for the neonatal healthcare givers themselves and possibly those being cared for. To date, prevention, screening and treatment have been insufficiently developed and explored. In this context, an overall institutional review of the chosen care model is needed.