Parent’s readiness for their preterm infant discharge from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Introduction: Preparing parents for their infant discharge from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is a process
that aims to increase confidence for caring their infant, as well as to give knowledge and skills for their readiness and
successful transition from NICU to home. Aim: The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the readiness
of parents of preterm infants for discharge from the NICU. Secondary objectives were to investigate the parents’
needs, factors and interventions that affect their readiness for discharge from NICU. Methodology: A systematic
review of the literature was conducted from 2015-2021, in international databases Pubmed, Scopus and Google
Scholar. After searching the databases 106 articles emerged and after evaluation 27 articles were included. Results:
The majority of parents felt prepared for discharge from NICU. Factors that affect parents’ readiness for discharging
are their socio-economic status, family’s participation in preterm’s care, spatial distribution of NICU, organization and
quality of discharge teaching, health literacy, language proficiency, the use of standardized tools for evaluation of their
readiness for discharge, nurse’s available time, ineffective staff-parent communication about the daily care of the infant,
gestational age and maternal mental health disorders. Parents’ needs are emotional, educational, social, financial and
informational. They also desire to stay at NICU around the clock, clear parenting roles, sufficient preparation time and
participation in the care of their infant. Interventions, such as regular measurement of parental readiness by evaluating
the results of measurements and implementing changes in discharge preparation, educational sessions, personalized
programs of preparation, training and simulation of neonatal care, applications for smartphones based on parental
needs and charts that estimate discharge dates, could increase parental readiness. Conclusions: The parents’ readiness
for discharge from NICU is influenced by various factors and presupposes the individual evaluation and satisfaction
of the parents’ needs by the interdisciplinary team, as well as the implementation of targeted interventions.faster and
more efficient recovery.