Effect of a systematic discharge nursing plan on mothers' knowledge and confidence in caring for infants with congenital heart disease at home.
OBJECTIVE
Mothers who are separated from their infants due to the necessity of surgical treatment for congenital heart disease (CHD) may develop lack of confidence in their ability to care for their infant. This research developed a systematic discharge nursing plan (SDNP) for mothers to care for their infants with CHD and evaluated the effects of this plan on maternal knowledge and confidence in caring for their infant with CHD at home.


METHODS
A quasi-experimental design was adopted for the study. Subjects were recruited by purposive sampling from mothers who had a hospitalized infant with CHD aged from 0 to 6 months. There were 20 mothers in the control group and 15 mothers in the intervention group. Control group subjects received current nursing instruction and were followed at the outpatient department after discharge of the infant from the hospital whereas the intervention group completed the SDNP in addition to current nursing instruction. Evaluations of these 2 groups based on the mother's knowledge of infant care and confidence to provide adequate care were conducted twice, at 1 week and 1 month after the infant's discharge from the hospital.


RESULTS
The intervention group had better confidence than the control group at 1 week and 1 month after the infants' discharge (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference of improvement in knowledge of infant care score between the 2 groups. No significant relation was found between knowledge of infant care and maternal confidence.


CONCLUSIONS
This research showed that an SDNP improved maternal confidence in caring for an infant with CHD. Thus, an SDNP may be a valuable part of standard clinical practice in caring for infants with CHD.
Yang
Hsiao-Ling
HL
School of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chen
Yueh-Chih
YC
Mao
Hsin-Chun
HC
Gau
Bih-Shya
BS
Wang
Jou-Kou
JK
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan