Highlights
- •It is known that parents have a difficult time caring for a child with special healthcare needs in the home
- •It is reported that little time is spent preparing and evaluating parents' readiness for discharge
- •Nurses perceive parents to be underprepared on financial, psychological, and emotional domains.
- •Practice and policy implications related to discharge preparation may improve parent readiness to care once home
Abstract
Purpose
To describe pediatric nurses' perception of readiness to care for parents of children
with special healthcare needs.
Design and Methods
This cross-sectional, exploratory study surveyed 56 pediatric nurses from a large
tertiary care center in Appalachia. Participants completed an anonymous electronic
survey aimed at evaluating perception of discharge preparation and readiness to care.
Data analysis included descriptive statistics and Chi square comparisons.
Results
The majority of participants (80%) reported spending 12 h or less preparing parents
for discharge. The domains rated lowest on readiness to care included financial, psychological,
and emotional. Participants anticipate parents spending an average of 13.9 h a day
serving as the child's primary caregiver in the home.
Conclusions
Subjective, ‘unseen’ domains of readiness are often under-assessed and evaluated.
Parents are often discharged with limited preparation to assume around-the-clock care
for a child with special healthcare needs, specifically related to their holistic
health and wellbeing.
Practice Implications
Standardization of discharge preparation and readiness evaluation should focus on
overall parent preparedness, including financial, psychological, and emotional domains.
Discharge preparation should begin at the time of admission to familiarize parents
with care. Clear, frequent communication should be used to emphasize realistic expectations
and assess unique needs. Provision of accessible community-based resources should
be given early to better equip parents with supportive services once home.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 22, 2022
Accepted:
November 10,
2022
Received in revised form:
September 27,
2022
Received:
June 17,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
