title: Neonatal intensive care unit discharge preparation, family readiness and infant outcomes: connecting the dots.
abstract: Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge readiness is defined as the masterful attainment of technical skills and knowledge, emotional comfort, and confidence with infant care by the primary caregivers at the time of discharge. NICU discharge preparation is the process of facilitating comfort and confidence as well as the acquisition of knowledge and skills to successfully make the transition from the NICU to home. In this paper, we first review the literature about discharge readiness as it relates to the NICU population. Understanding that discharge readiness is achieved, in part, through successful discharge preparation, we then outline an approach to NICU discharge preparation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA. vsmith1@bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: V C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dukhovny
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Pursley
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D057189:Checklist; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D022143:Family Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000193:education* / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007224:Infant Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010351:Patient Discharge; D063886:Patient Discharge Summaries; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods