title: Readiness for discharge in parents of hospitalized children.
abstract: Parental preparation for a child's discharge from the hospital sets the stage for successful transitioning to care and recovery at home. In this study of 135 parents of hospitalized children, the quality of discharge teaching, particularly the nurses' skills in "delivery" of parent teaching, was associated with increased parental readiness for discharge, which was associated with less coping difficulty during the first 3 weeks postdischarge. Parental coping difficulty was predictive of greater utilization of posthospitalization health services. These results validate the role of the skilled nurse as a teacher in promoting positive outcomes at discharge and beyond the hospitalization.
authors.affiliation: Marquette University College of Nursing, Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881, USA. marianne.weiss@marquette.edu
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Norah Louise
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Shelly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malin
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jerofke
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: Eileen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sherburne
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires