The hospital-home transition of families in neonatal context: family nursing contributions - scoping review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29352/mill0222e.43471Keywords:
Keywords: family; family health; family nursing; hospital to home transitionAbstract
Introduction: Prematurity represents a challenge to family well-being. It involves medical and emotional complications that affect the child and parenting development. In this context emerges the figure of the family health nurse (FHN). With his skill set, he intervenes in health promotion and disease prevention, providing continuous support for the families during the hospital-home transition.
Objective: To map scientific evidence on family health nursing interventions aimed at families in a neonatal context, during the hospital-home transition.
Methods: This Scoping Review followed the JBI methodology and PRISMA-ScR reporting. The protocol was registered on OSF (DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/36BJG). Research was conducted in PubMed and CINAHL (via EBSCO) from December 1st to December 31st, 2024, complemented by Scielo, LILACS, RCAAP, B-On, and Google Scholar. Eligibility was defined using PCC. The title, abstract, and full-text selection were done by two independent reviewers through the Rayyan® platform. Any disagreements were resolved by a third reviewer. Data was synthesized narratively and organized in a table.
Results: Three FHN intervention axis here identified: family empowerment, collaborative procedures between the hospital and community contexts, and the nurse as case manager.
Conclusion: The outcomes of this Scoping Review contribute to the design of FHN intervention projects in the vulnerable situation of the hospital-home transition of these families.
Downloads
References
Aromataris, E., Lockwood, C., Porritt, K., Pilla, B., & Jordan, Z. (2024). JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. JBI. https://doi.org/10.46658/JBIMES-24-01
Biroli, F. (2014). Família: Novos conceitos. Fundação Perseu Abramo. https://shre.ink/AcWq
Bondurant, P., & Brinkman, K. (2003). Developmentally supportive care in the newborn intensive care unit: Early intervention in the community. The Nursing clinics of North America, 38(2), 253–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0029-6465(02)00052-x
Bowles, J., Jnah, A., Newberry, D., Hubbard, C., & Roberston, T. (2016). Infants with technology dependence: Facilitating the road to home. Advances in Neonatal Care, 16(6),424–429. https://doi.org/10.1097/ANC.0000000000000310
Broedsgaard, A., & Wagner, L. (2005). How to facilitate parents and their premature infant for the transition home. International Nursing Review, 52(3), 196–203. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-7657.2005.00414.x
Brødsgaard, A., Zimmermann, R., & Petersen, M. (2015). A preterm lifeline: Early discharge programme based on family-centred care. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 20(4), 232–243. https://doi.org/10.1111/jspn.12120
Censullo M. (1986). Home care of the high-risk newborn. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 15(2), 146–153. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.1986.tb01381.x
Curran, J., Breneol, S., & Vine, J. (2020). Improving transitions in care for children with complex and medically fragile needs: A mixed methods study. BMC Pediatrics, 20(1), 219. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-020-02117-6
Enlow, E., Faherty, L., Wallace-Keeshen, S., Martin, A., Shea, J., & Lorch, S. (2017). Perspectives of low socioeconomic status mothers of premature infants. Pediatrics, 139(3), e20162310. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2310
European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (EFCNI). (2018). European standards of care for newborn health: Case management and transition to home (1.ª ed.). EFCNI.
Ferraz, L., Xavier, M., Gameiro, M., Cardoso, A., Cardoso, D., Paradela, L., Dinis, D., Coutinho, E., & Fernandes, A. (2024). eHealth early intervention programs to support premature parents transitioning from NICU to home on parental and infant outcomes: A systematic review protocol. JBI Evidence Synthesis, 22(10), 2162–2169. https://doi.org/10.11124/JBIES-23-00422
Figueiredo, M. H. (2012). Modelo dinâmico de avaliação e intervenção familiar. Lusociência
Frericks, P., & Gurín, M. (2023). Family as a redistributive principle of welfare states: An international comparison. Journal of European Social Policy, 33(1), 52-66. https://doi.org/10.1177/09589287221115670
Granero-Molina, J., Fernández Medina, I., Fernández-Sola, C., Hernández-Padilla, J., Jiménez Lasserrotte, M., & López Rodríguez, M. (2019). Experiences of mothers of extremely preterm Infants after hospital discharge. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 45, e2–e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2018.12.003
Griffith, T., Singh, A., Naber, M., Hummel, P., Bartholomew, C., Amin, S., White-Traut, R., & Garfield, L. (2022). Scoping review of interventions to support families with preterm infants post-NICU discharge. Journal of pediatric nursing, 67, e135–e149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2022.08.014
Haemmerli, N., Von Gunten, G., Khan, J., Stoffel, L., Humpl, T., & Cignacco, E. (2021). Interprofessional collaboration in a new model of transitional care for families with preterm infants–the health care professional’s perspective. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 14, 897-908. https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S303988
Haemmerli, N., Stoffel, L., Schmitt, K., Khan, J., Humpl, T., Nelle, M., & Cignacco, E. (2022). Enhancing parents' well-being after preterm birth: A qualitative evaluation of the "Transition to Home" model of care. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(7), 4309. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19074309
Haspels, H., Knoester, H., Jansen, N., Ahout, I., Van Karnebeek, C., De Hoog, M., VanWoensel, J., & Joosten, K., (2025). Hospital to home transition of children with medical complexities in the Netherlands: current practice. European Journal of Pediatrics, 184(1), 122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-024-05960-2
Hebballi, N., Kerl C., Garcia E., Ottosen M., Kelly K., Bartz-Kurycki M., Tang B., Hillman E., Aneji C., Tsao K., & Austin M. (2021). Barriers to transition to home from the neonatal intensive care unit: A qualitative perspectives of parents and healthcare providers. The Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing, 35(4), 340-349. https://doi.org/10.1097/JPN.0000000000000570
Hüning, B., Reimann, M., Beerenberg, U., Stein, A., Schmidt, A., & Felderhoff-Müser, U. (2012). Establishment of a family-centred care programme with follow-up home visits: implications for clinical care and economic characteristics. Klinische Padiatrie, 224(7), 431–436. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0032-1327620
Johnson, J. O. (2024). Implementation of family centered care for neonates admitted in a special care baby unit in Sierra Leone. Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, 189-199. https://doi.org/10.2147/PHMT.S455804
Khoshnood, Z., Nematollahi, M., & Monemi, E. (2023). The effect of a virtual educational and supportive intervention on the mothers’ resilience with preterm infants: A quasi-experimental study. Middle East Journal of Rehabilitation and Health Studies, 10(1), https://doi.org/10.5812/mejrh-129812
Kim, J. S., & Kim, H. R. (2024). An integrated review of transitional care for families of pre-term infants. Healthcare, 12(22), 2287. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12222287
Legge, N., Popat, H., & Fitzgerald, D. (2023). Examining the impact of premature birth on parental mental health and family functioning in the years following hospital discharge: A review. Journal of neonatal-perinatal medicine, 16 (2), 195-208. https://doi.org/10.3233/NPM-221107
Lopez, G., Anderson, K., & Feutchinger, J. (2012). Transition of premature infants from hospital to home life. Neonatal Network, 31(4), 207–214. https://doi.org/10.1891/0730-0832.31.4.207
Miller K, Berentson G, Roberts H, McMorris C, Needelman H. (2022) Examining early intervention referral patterns in neonatal intensive care unit follow up clinics using telemedicine during COVID-19. Early Human Development, 172,105631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2022.105631
Neto, F. (2023). Redes de atenção à saúde: realidade de Portugal no acompanhamento do prematuro, após alta hospitalar. Journal of Nurse and Health, 13(esp), e22136347. https://doi.org/10.15210/jonah.v13i.24919
Ordem dos Enfermeiros (2018). Regulamento das competências específicas do enfermeiro especialista em enfermagem comunitária - enfermagem de saúde pública e do enfermeiro especialista em enfermagem comunitária - enfermagem de saúde familiar. Ordem dos Enfermeiros. https://shre.ink/AcpU
Osorio G., & Salazar M., (2023). Preparing parents for discharge from the neonatal unit, the transition, and care of their preterm children at home. Investigación Y Educación En Enfermería, 41(1), e04. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.iee.v41n1e04
Page, M., Moher, D., Bossuyt, P., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T., Mulrow, C., & McKenzie, J. (2021). PRISMA 2020 explanation and elaboration: Updated guidance and exemplars for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n160. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n160
Peters, M., Godfrey, C., McInerney, P., Munn, Z., Tricco, A., & Khalil, H. (2020). Scoping Reviews. In E. Aromataris, C. Lockwood, K. Porritt, B. Pilla, & Z. Jordan (Eds.), JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. JBI. https://doi.org/10.46658/JBIMES-24-09
Shillington, J., & McNeil, D. (2021). Transition from the neonatal intensive care unit to home: A concept analysis. Advances in Neonatal Care, 21(5),399–406. https://doi.org/10.1097/ANC.0000000000000835
Silva, M. (2020). ABC dos objetivos de desenvolvimento sustentável. Instituto Marquês de Valle. https://shre.ink/Acfb
Smith, V., Love, K., & Goyer, E. (2022). NICU discharge preparation and transition planning: Guidelines and recommendations. Journal of Perinatology, 42(1), 7-21. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-022-01313-9
Van de Riet, L., Alsem, M., Van der Leest, E., Van Etten-Jamaludin, F. S., Maaskant, J., Van Woensel, J., & Van Karnebeek, C. (2023). Delineating family needs in the transition from hospital to home for children with medical complexity: Part 1, a meta-aggregation of qualitative studies. Orphanet journal of rare diseases, 18(1),386. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13023-023-02942-9
White-Traut, R., & Norr, K. (2009). An ecological model for premature infant feeding. Journal of obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 38(4), 478–490. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.2009.01046.x.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Millenium - Journal of Education, Technologies, and Health
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who submit proposals for this journal agree to the following terms:
a) Articles are published under the Licença Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0), in full open-access, without any cost or fees of any kind to the author or the reader;
b) The authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication, allowing the free sharing of work, provided it is correctly attributed the authorship and initial publication in this journal;
c) The authors are permitted to take on additional contracts separately for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (eg, post it to an institutional repository or as a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal;
d) Authors are permitted and encouraged to publish and distribute their work online (eg, in institutional repositories or on their website) as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as increase the impact and citation of published work
Documents required for submission
Article template (Editable format)
