Are families attending a neonatal intensive care unit engaged and satisfied with video education? A scoping review

Background/Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy and effectiveness of video education in a neonatal intensive care (NICU) setting and examine family engagement and satisfaction with video interventions. Currently, the families of preterm infants in Aotearoa New Zealand receive verbal and written information during their NICU stay. Parental stress and low health information fluency can prevent family members from connecting with the resources. Educational videos have been successfully used in other patient care settings and could be used in NICU to support the provision of oral and written information. Methods: The PRISMA-ScR model was followed to conduct this review. A literature search was conducted using Scopus, Academic Search Complete, PubMed and Google Scholar. Studies that examined videos used in NICU settings for family education, published from 2009 to 2025 and available in English, were included. Results: Initially 9,422 studies were identified, and eight full-text studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies were published between 2012 and 2022 and were primarily conducted in North America. Four studies used qualitative methods, and four used quantitative methods. The eight studies had a variety of foci – breastfeeding, infant care and needle puncture procedures – and investigated the effects of educational videos on family knowledge, confidence, implementation of taught strategies and how they received the education. The results suggested that video education can be effective when used in an NICU setting. Conclusion: Video education interventions in NICU have the potential to increase family knowledge, family implementation of taught strategies and satisfaction. Further research is required however to determine the impact of video education on infant outcomes and ongoing engagement with healthcare systems. To maximise efficacy, creating resources that are culturally relevant is essential.