Experiences and Perceptions of Hospital to Home Transitional Care for Parents of Premature Infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis.
Qi Lu, XiaoQin Liu, QingQing Shen and 2 others
PMID 41317359WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of preterm infants moving from NICU to home felt relieved but unsafe without hospital monitoring.
Many lacked confidence in feeding and care; parents reported feeling more prepared when they had hands-on NICU involvement and continued support.
Key findings
01Parents said going home brought relief but also vulnerability, because they lost the NICU's monitoring and staff. They felt more at ease when they had been involved in caregiving during the hospital stay.
02Many parents felt unprepared for feeding and basic care even when the infant met discharge criteria. Parents reported feeling more prepared after hands-on NICU practice and professional guidance, while inconsistent or overloaded information from staff increased insecurity.
03Mothers often took on primary infant care and lost work and social contact, while fathers felt sidelined as providers and unsure about caregiving. Parents wanted partner support and continued nurse contact after discharge.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a synthesis of parents' experiences, not a test of any discharge programme or nursing intervention. It included only English and Chinese studies, and studies without full text access were excluded. Transition periods and samples differed across studies, so the themes may not fit every family. The included studies were rated moderate quality overall.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that family-centred NICU care or nurse home visits work. It is a synthesis of parents' experiences from qualitative studies, not a trial of those services.