Nursing guidelines for caregivers of children with congenital heart disease after discharge: Integrative Review.
Bruna Alves Machado Amazonas, Denise Maria Guerreiro Vieira da Silva, Maria de Nazaré de Souza Ribeiro
PMID 38589305WHAT IT FOUND
Nurses are key to preparing caregivers for home care after heart surgery, but guidelines are lacking.
Caregivers need practical training on medication, wound care and complex treatments to reduce anxiety and manage the burden of looking after a child with congenital heart disease.
Key findings
01Caregivers of children with congenital heart disease face heavy burdens from complex home care tasks like medication, wound care and managing medical devices.
02Nurses play a central role in preparing families for discharge by providing education and support, which helps reduce caregiver anxiety.
03There is currently no specific nursing guide for children with congenital heart disease, and existing evidence is limited and often older.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 11 articles were included in the review. All included studies had a low level of evidence (Level 4). The search was limited to Portuguese, English and Spanish, potentially missing relevant research in other languages. The authors noted that the literature on this specific topic is scarce and often outdated.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat this review as evidence that specific nursing interventions improve child health outcomes. The included studies were mostly qualitative or descriptive, focusing on caregiver experiences and needs rather than measuring the effectiveness of care techniques.