Neonatal Intensive Care Unit discharge preparedness among families with limited english proficiency.
Academic Article
Overview
abstract
OBJECTIVE: We compared the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit discharge preparedness of families with and without Limited English Proficiency (LEP). STUDY DESIGN: We performed a retrospective analysis of discharged families. Each family's discharge preparation was self-assessed on the day of discharge, and the discharging nurse assessed the family's overall emotional and technical discharge preparedness all on 9-point Likert scales. Families were considered not prepared for discharge if they rated themselves or the nurse rated their preparedness as <7 on the Likert scale. RESULTS: Among 1307 discharged families, 90 had LEP. The odds of being prepared for discharge were the same for both groups (aOR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.27-1.41; p = 0.258). In multivariable analyses, families with LEP were less likely to be prepared with technical baby care skills (aOR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.13-0.81). CONCLUSION: Families with LEP are at higher risk and may require special attention when preparing for NICU discharge.
