title: Mothers' experiences of infants discharge in Iranian NICU culture: a qualitative study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined mothers' experiences of the preparation of their infants for discharge in the Iranian neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) culture.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants included 16 mothers who had preterm infants who were hospitalized in Iranian NICUs.
  
  
  METHODS
  A qualitative study was used to describe mothers' experiences of infant discharge from the NICU.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data collection was done by interviewing mothers who were in NICUs of Iranian University Hospitals. The qualitative data analysis package was used for coding and categorizing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four themes were identified: learning from multiple sources, conditional discharge, enabled mother, and continued nightmares.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study highlighted several issues regarding mothers' experiences of infants' discharge plan. Nurses should be aware of these themes to support the mothers during preparation of their infants for discharge from NICUs.
authors.affiliation: Nursing and Midwifery School and Medical and Surgical Department, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zamanzadeh
authors.forename: Mahboobeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Namnabati
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valizadeh
authors.forename: Zohreh
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Badiee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D007492:Iran; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013315:Stress, Psychological