Elsevier

Journal of Pediatric Nursing

Volume 31, Issue 2, March–April 2016, Pages e99-e108
Journal of Pediatric Nursing

Needs Perceived by Parents of Preterm Infants: Integrating Care Into the Early Discharge Process1

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2015.09.007Get rights and content

Introduction

The birth of a preterm infant can have a great emotional impact on the parents when the length of stay is long. Early discharge programs facilitate the transition to the home and have beneficial effects on both the parents and children. However, only a few studies have been conducted to identify the real needs of parents of preterm infants and to determine whether early discharge programs meet such needs. The main objective of this study was to identify the experiences and obstacles, during hospitalization and after discharge, of fathers and mothers of preterm infants who did or did not participate in an early discharge program.

Method

A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was performed and included 23 parents of preterm infants. Thematic analysis was performed with the assistance of Atlas.ti 6.2 software.

Results

Two main themes were identified: the emotional experience and obstacles to care during hospitalization and the emotional experiences and obstacles at home related to the early discharge program. The results indicated that preterm birth initially has a deep emotional impact on parents.

Discussion

There is a remarkable lack of coordination regarding the information provided to parents on their infant's health status. Being first-time parents seems to be an important factor, although further evidence supporting this notion should be provided.

Conclusion

Parents considered early discharge programs to be very useful in addressing the emotional aspects of hospitalization and the acquisition of neonatal care skills. Parents claim that the coordination and the information provided should be improved.

Section snippets

Design

The study was structured using a qualitative descriptive design (Howitt, 2013). This approach was chosen to understand the direct experience and perceptions of parents of a preterm infant.

Participants

The sampling was intentional and based on inclusion and exclusion criteria (criterion sample) (Flick, 2007, Howitt, 2013, Patton, 1990). The following inclusion criteria were used: a) being the father or mother of a preterm infant and b) hospitalization in the neonatal care unit. An exclusion criterion was

Results

The results were organized based on the two central themes that emerged from the analysis, as follows: a) the emotional experience and obstacles to care during hospitalization and b) the emotional experiences and obstacles at home: efficacy of the early discharge program. In each section, the differences based on the heterogeneous criteria (gender, being first-time parents and participation in the early discharge program vs standard program) were discussed.

Discussion

The objective of this study was to identify the experiences, needs, problems and difficulties of fathers and mothers of preterm infants during hospitalization and after discharge, who did and did not participate in an early discharge program. The current study reported the obstacles experienced by the parents of preterm infants during hospitalization and after discharge, providing important and useful information to improve the efficacy of early discharge programs. Consistent with previous

Acknowledgments

This research study forms part of the research project titled "Effectiveness of an early discharge intervention in preterm infants including home follow-up visits from a nurse specialized in neonatal care" (Reference: FIS 11/0283) funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (Programa FEDER). Principal Investigator: Isabel Toral López.

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    1

    Conflict of Interest: Authors declare no conflict of interest.

    2

    These authors contributed equally to this work.

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