Conducting Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Research During a Pandemic: Challenges and Lessons Learned

Background: The coronavirus pandemic disrupted normal clinical operations and research. Nurse scientists conducting research studies in the neonatal intensive care unit experienced significant challenges to continuing their research studies amid national lockdowns and hospital visitation restrictions.

Objectives: The purpose of this article is to describe the challenges encountered by nurse scientists conducting research studies in the neonatal intensive care unit during the pandemic, the creative solutions devised to overcome these barriers, and the lessons learned during this unprecedented time.

Methods: Using our pandemic area studies as exemplars, we highlight the barriers encountered in continuing our research in the intense environment of the neonatal intensive care unit.

Results: Visitor restrictions limited the presence of parents and researchers in the neonatal intensive care unit during the pandemic, causing disruptions to participant recruitment and data collection. Laboratory closures further limited research activities during the pandemic. Strategies to overcome these barriers include building formal collaborations among researchers and clinicians, creating the infrastructure to support virtual recruitment and electronic consent, and developing contingency plans for studies involving the analysis of biological samples.

Discussion: The neonatal intensive care unit is a unique environment because of vulnerable patient population and need for researchers to interact with parents to recruit study participants. Implementing the strategies developed during the coronavirus pandemic may allow for the continuation of research activities during future public health crises.