Clinical specialist pre- and postdischarge teaching of parents of very low birth weight infants.

This study examined the pre- and postdischarge teaching needed by parents of very low birth weight infants (less than or equal to 1,500 g). The sample consisted of 36 families observed from the births of their infants to 18 months' postdischarge. Content analyses yielded five major teaching categories of infant, mother, family, home, and resources. Major predischarge teaching included feeding, recognition of infections, and growth and development. Major postdischarge teaching included feeding, current health problems, growth and development, and managing within the health-care system.