Running Head: WEEK 4 MID-WEEK ASSIGNMENT 1
Week 4 Mid-week Assignment
Marie Celestin-Riviere
South University
August 7, 2020
WEEK 4 MID-WEEK ASSIGNMENT 2
Literature Review
The literature review section of my proposal encompasses the previous studies regarding
patient education before hospital discharge for new mothers. There is a wide range of articles
that were identified after a thorough online library search. According to most of the studies
considered, patient education is a crucial element of prenatal and postnatal nursing as it helps
mothers to understand their condition, treatment process, and the expected outcomes. The
mothers should learn how to effectively take care of themselves and the infant before, during,
and after delivery. These studies emphasize the significance of adequate education at an early
stage of the prenatal period until the postpartum period to facilitate an effective transition and
enhance wellbeing.
According to Kirca and Ozcan (2018), the transition can be challenging for mothers once
they are discharged, mainly involving difficulties of breastfeeding, adapting the new life, and
decreased emotional support. Education about how to take care of the child, maintaining their
health, and assisting in role shift is vital to consider during the prenatal period and the days after
discharge. As such, these researchers carried out a study to examine the kind of care given to
postpartum mothers and any challenge they faced. It was found that the postpartum did not have
adequate knowledge with regards to their next phase of life. The authors also noted poor
discharge planning and a lack of suitable resources to guide the mothers during the postpartum
period. In another similar study, McCarter-Spaulding and Shea (2016) investigated the
usefulness of an education program in decreasing or inhibiting depression during the post-
discharge time. Education at discharge did not influence the symptoms of postpartum depression;
however, the researchers advocated for education starting prenatally, during pregnancy, and then
proceeding until post-discharge, to reduce the risk of developing depression.
WEEK 4 MID-WEEK ASSIGNMENT 3
Ingram et al. (2017) further put more emphasis on the need to educate parents of preterm
infants. The study's objective was to examine mothers and neonatal staff's views about a family-
centered discharge program. The findings indicated that the program was beneficial to both
parents and staff because it enhanced interaction and understanding, particularly regarding the
infant's needs and progress, as well as helped the parents prepare well for the discharge. The fact
is that transition from the neonatal facility to their residences comprises a complicated adaptation
process by mothers, and lack of appropriate education may make it more challenging. Early
guidance and counselling promote parental self-assurance and ability, and readiness to accept
obligation for care. In their study about the experiences of low-income mothers after discharge,
Guerra-Reyes et al. (2016) discovered that most fresh mothers regularly sought information
online through their phones to know more about their health and how to nurture the baby. The
researchers also highlighted that having a precise knowledge of what to expect helps the mothers
adopt suitable practices, which can promote their wellbeing and the newborn's growth.
The results of these studies confirm that patient education provided at the early stage of
the prenatal period until the postnatal period results in enhanced wellbeing of both mother and
the child. As the studies advocate, prioritizing nursing time to educate women may be more
effective than other interventions. Education about infant feeding, maternal care, and adapting
life play a significant role in promoting patient outcomes. Nonetheless, further research is
required to examine the efficiency of patient education and personalized discharge plans. The
assumption that more discharge education has a positive influence on health outcomes may
require to be reviewed comprehensively. Based on this literature review, the proposed research
will provide additional insights into the significance of education before hospital discharge to
help in the transition of postpartum mothers.
WEEK 4 MID-WEEK ASSIGNMENT 4
References
Guerra-Reyes, L., Christie, V., Prabhakar, A., Harris, A., & Siek, K. (2016). Postpartum health
information seeking using mobile phones: Experiences of low-income mothers. Maternal
& Child Health Journal, 20, 13–21. [Link]
Ingram, J., Redshaw, M., Manns, S., Beasant, L., Johnson, D., Fleming, P., & Pontin, D. (2017).
"Giving us hope": Parent and neonatal staff views and expectations of a planned family-
centred discharge process (train-to-Home). Health Expectations, 20(4), 751-759.
[Link]
Kirca, N., & Ozcan, S. (2018). Problems experienced by puerperants in the postpartum period
and views of the puerperants about solution recommendations for these problems: A
qualitative research. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 360–370.
McCarter-Spaulding, D., & Shea, S. (2016). Effectiveness of discharge education on postpartum
depression. MCN, American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 41(3), 168-
172. [Link]
