Document Type
Article
Language
eng
Format of Original
12 p.
Publication Date
7-2009
Publisher
Wiley
Source Publication
Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing
Source ISSN
0090-0311
Original Item ID
doi: 10.1111/j.1552-6909.2009.01040.x
Abstract
Objective: To identify predictors and outcomes of postpartum mothers' perceptions of their readiness for hospital discharge. Design: A correlational design with path analyses was used to explore predictive relationships among transition theory-related variables. Setting: Midwestern tertiary perinatal center. Participants: One hundred and forty-one mixed-parity postpartum mothers who had experienced vaginal birth or Cesarean delivery of normal healthy infants. Methods: Before hospital discharge, patients completed questionnaires about sociodemographic characteristics, hospitalization factors, quality of discharge teaching, and readiness for discharge. Three weeks postdischarge, mothers were contacted by telephone to collect coping difficulty and health care utilization data. Main Outcome Measures: Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale, Post-Discharge Coping Difficulty Scale, Utilization of postdischarge services. Results: Quality of discharge teaching, specifically the relative difference in the amount of informational content needed and received and the skills of nurses in delivering discharge teaching, explained 38% of the variance in postpartum mothers' perceptions of discharge readiness. Readiness for discharge scores explained 22% of the variance in postdischarge coping difficulty scores. Nurses' skills in delivery of discharge teaching, coping difficulty, patient characteristics, and birth hospitalization factors were predictive of utilization of family support and postdischarge health care services. Conclusion: A trajectory of influence was evident in the sequential relationships of quality of discharge teaching, readiness for discharge, postdischarge coping, and utilization of family support and health care services. Transitions theory provided a useful framework for conceptualizing and investigating the transition home after childbirth.
Recommended Citation
Weiss, Marianne E. and Lokken, Lisa, "Predictors and Outcomes of Postpartum Mothers' Perceptions of Readiness for Discharge after Birth" (2009). College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications. 34.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/nursing_fac/34
Comments
Accepted version. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, Vol. 38, No. 4, (July/August 2009): 406-417. DOI. © 2009 Wiley. Used with permission.