Transitional care program for enhancing competence of primary care givers in home care management of neonatal intensive care unit graduates

Abstract

The discharge of a newborn who had been admitted in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for weeks or months after birth is both joy and worry for parents. A comprehensive plan is needed to prepare the parents so that they can take care of their baby by their own after discharge from NICU. The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of transitional care programmes on the competence of primary caregivers in home care management of NICU graduates. A Quasi-experimental design with a quantitative approach was adopted. The sample consisted of 80 primary caregivers selected by purposive sampling technique. Data were collected using the demographic profile, structured knowledge questionnaire and observation checklist. The findings showed that the mean knowledge score of mothers regarding home care of NICU graduates improved from 12.8 ± 3.93 in pretest to 27.55 ± 1.93 after the transitional care programme. There was a significant difference between pretest and posttest knowledge of mothers in the experimental group (P < 0.001). The mean knowledge score of caregivers regarding homecare of NICU graduates improved from 12.7 ± 2.47 to 25.6 ± 3.25 after the transitional care programme. However, no significant difference was observed between the study participants of experimental and control groups (P > 0.05). A randomised control trial with a large sample size is needed to find out the impact of transitional care programmes. This intervention can be incorporated into the discharge plan of NICU graduates to minimise the readmission to the hospital.