出院準備對早產兒母親照護知識、能力及母育信心之成效

Background: Compared to full-term infants, preterm infants are physiologically immature. Thus, the mothers of preterm infants must acquire more caring skills than the mothers of full-term infants do. Implementing nursing interventions may improve the interactions between mothers and preterm infants. However, few local studies had been conducted before. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of discharge planning intervention on the caring knowledge, caring ability, and maternal confidence of mothers of preterm infants, based on the Self-efficacy of Social Cognitive Theory. Methods: The study was conducted with a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design. Sixty-three mothers and their preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intermediate-to-intensive care units of four regional hospitals were recruited. The participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n=32) and control group (n=31). The participants in the experimental group received general instructions and discharge planning, while the participants in the control group only received general instructions. The pre-test was conducted when the preterm infants were transferred to the neonatal intermediateto- intensive care units, the post-test 1 was conducted on the day of discharge, and the post-test 2 was conducted one week after discharge. The test results were analyzed by generalized estimating equations. Results: The results indicated that overall, the participants in both groups did not improve considerably in their caring knowledge, caring ability, and maternal confidence at post-test 1. However, the participants in the experimental group showed considerable improvements in their caring knowledge, caring ability, and maternal confidence compared with those in the control group at post-test 2. When potential difference were controlled for, the participants in the experimental group exhibited considerable improvements in their caring knowledge, caring ability, and maternal confidence compared with those in the control group at post-test 1 and 2. Conclusion: Discharge planning based on Social Cognitive Theory proposed by Bandura may improve the caring ability of mothers of preterm infants and may be used as a reference for hospitals' preterm infant care programs.