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Objective: To explore parental perspectives on the use of technology in neonatal intensive care units (NICU), and its impact during COVID-19 parental presence restrictions., Methods: Co-designed online survey targeting parents of infants admitted to a Canadian NICU from March 1st, 2020 until March 5th, 2021., Results: Parents (n = 117) completed the survey from 38 NICUs. Large variation in policies regarding parental permission to use technology across sites was reported. Restrictive use of technology was reported as a source of parental stress. While families felt that technology helped them feel close to their infant when they could not be in the NICU, it did not replace being in-person., Conclusion: Large variation in policies were reported. Despite concerns about devices in NICUs, evidence on how to mitigate these concerns exists. Benefits of using technology to enhance parental experiences appear substantial. Future study is needed to inform recommendations on technology use in the NICU., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose., (© 2022 Neonatal Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, family presence restrictions in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) were enacted to limit disease transmission. This has resulted in communication challenges, negatively impacting family integrated care., Aim: To develop clinical care pathways to ensure optimal neonatal care to support families in response to parental presence restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: An agile, co-design process utilizing expert consensus of a large interdisciplinary team and focus groups and semi-structured interviews with families and HCPs were used to co-design clinical virtual care pathways., Results: Three clinical virtual care pathways were co-designed: (1) building and maintaining relationships between family and healthcare providers; (2) awareness of resources; and (3) standardized COVID-19 messaging. Modifications were made to optimize uptake and utilization in the clinical areas., Conclusion: Clinical care virtual pathways were successfully co-designed to meet these needs to ensure more equitable family centered care., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2021 Neonatal Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)