Examining the Influence of Nurse-Led Discharge Education on Parental Readiness and Anxiety: A Path Analysis in the NICU Setting

This study examined the influence of nurse-led discharge education on parental readiness and anxiety among parents of neonates admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Specifically, it determined the respondents’ demographic profile, perceived level of nurse-led discharge education, level of parental readiness, level of parental anxiety prior to discharge, relationships among the major variables, differences in readiness and anxiety when grouped according to demographic profile, and the mediating role of parental readiness in the relationship between nurse-led discharge education and parental anxiety.
The study employed a quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional, predictive-correlational design using mediation/path analysis. A total of 133 parents participated in the study through purposive sampling. Data were gathered using the researcher-made Parent Discharge Preparation Questionnaire (NICU) and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, t-test, ANOVA, and mediation/path analysis. Findings revealed that nurse-led discharge education was perceived as very high, parental readiness was high, and parental anxiety prior to discharge was low. Nurse-led discharge education was significantly and positively related to parental readiness and significantly and negatively related to parental anxiety.
Parental readiness was also significantly and negatively related to parental anxiety. Significant differences in parental readiness and anxiety were found according to previous NICU experience and length of infant’s NICU stay. Mediation/path analysis showed that parental readiness significantly mediated the relationship between nurse-led discharge education and parental anxiety, indicating that discharge education may reduce anxiety by strengthening parents’ readiness for home caregiving. Based on the findings, the NICU Parent Discharge Readiness and Anxiety Reduction Program was proposed to strengthen structured, continuous, skills-based, and emotionally supportive discharge education for parents.

nurse-led discharge education, parental readiness, parental anxiety, NICU discharge, path analysis

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