NICU Parent Discharge Education

Nurse Man-ingitis · Oct 24, 2008

i have no experience as a nurse yet so i can't help you with topics, but i am an academic administrator, so i can give you some general guidelines for developing the program. you have to work backward. the first thing you do is ask why is such a program required? what specific things should parents know that they don't know. this is sometimes referred to as a gap analysis. the best way to find out this information is to survey your fellow nurses. additionally, ask yourself what outcomes do you want for the parents/patients.

once you have an end point, you can work backward step by step. this will give you objective points which are building blocks to the types of material you want to include.

also, don't be afraid to include some parents in trial ideas as you proceed to the final product. once you have an outline / rough curriculum, you tweak it with ongoing analysis and resulting feedback.

i hope this helps a little! :saint:

TexasPediRN · Oct 24, 2008

Is CPR required by all of your parents??

If not, thats a great place to start..

spartangal1989 · Oct 24, 2008

WOW! What a great thing to actually require that all parents take a class. We have no such requirement, except for CPR for home o2, trach, and vent discharges. But I have made it a priority to teach our parents. Plus getting families together allows them to get a modicum of social support from someone that is in their shoes.

That being said.......

I agree that CPR is a great place to start. Currently we have started doing classes on various preemie topics (ROP, breastfeeding pre-terms,IVH, basic respiratory issues) I have been combining these classes with a little craft/keepsake for the parents to make(I have done different things with handprints, footprints, scrapbooking photos, etc) this has brought participation way up. the funniest thing is the dads seem to enjoy these crafts just as much as the moms, and they make nicer looking things too!

Hope this gives you a jumping off point! A

s.maire.2126 · Oct 24, 2008

Yes, definitely helped! I'm already putting to work some of your advice :) Thank you

s.maire.2126 · Oct 24, 2008

Yes, that helps...thanks :)

s.maire.2126 · Oct 24, 2008

CPR is only an option, but definitely a good place to start! I was thinking any and all necessary skills that proves parents understand how to take care of their infant without our help. There have been sad cicumstances that have brought our discharged infants back in bad shape

HappyPediRN · Oct 24, 2008

S.Maire, may I suggest having someone place follow-up calls to parents approximately one month from discharge? Find out firsthand what their strong suits are and what areas they are having trouble with. Ask them what information they feel would be helpful for parents to know when they're bringing their baby home. You can use that as a foundation for the program.

s.maire.2126 · Oct 25, 2008

That's a great idea, thanks!

Humbled_Nurse · Oct 25, 2008

s.marie:

That sounds like a great project! You're director must have a lot of confidence in you since she asked you to do it. Discharge teaching is VERY IMPORTANT! There are many, many topics you can discuss. Here are some:

RSV

Basic baby care (bathing, taking temperature, changing diapers, etc...)

S/S's of illness and when to call the doctor

SIDS

Shaken Baby Syndrome

Car Seat safety

Preparing formula/EBM

Premature baby topics such as ROP follow-up, Early Intervention, etc...

CPR

Circumsicion care

There is just a few to get you started!

Good luck!

spacey · Nov 5, 2008

HI! -- I teach the discharge class at my hospital and thoroughly enjoy it! I started by creating a written booklet that covers all the info I go over in the class, so that parents can have it to take home as a resource. I teach from it, so it keeps me on track and ensures I cover everything with every group. I agree with all the topics listed above and cover them all in my class (except ROP....that is addressed on an 'as needed' basis) For now, the class isn't mandatory but all the nurses really encourage parents to attend because it makes getting them out at d/c sooo much faster and easier. If the families don't attend the class, their nurse the day of d/c has to go over the same items with them. We have one class a week, offer free snacks, and it lasts about 90 minutes.

We are looking at cpr for families ..... currently we offer it off the unit but have few participants. It will be a seperate class because of the time required to present the cpr program and to allow the families to practice and then be evaluated.

Congrats on being asked to start this class! They must think you do a good job working with parents!

I am curious about the post above that mentioned the craft type activites they do as a group. Could you possibly post more info on what you do? We are considering that type of thing, as a support group type meeting, but are unsure on what activities to offer and how expensive the materials would be etc.

Thanks!

Spacey

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Nov 7, 2008

We had something like that in place, but we were not getting a good turnout, despite saying that they had to come. We legally couldn't hold a d/c because they didn't go to the class.

Our monitor companies do the CPR training if the kiddo is on a monitor, so at least those parents have to do that when they receive their monitor.

Start with CPR class and see how that goes....remember that you aren't certifiying them in CPR, just providing them with info. There are several DVD's you can find on CPR and corificeat safety.

Remember to also consult with legal, which your CNS should help you with, to make sure everything has it's T's crossed and I's dotted.

Good luck! I hope your classes are more successful than ours! We are trying again this year with just a basic baby class they can attend.