Abstract

Early parenting residential units provide a child and family health support and education service for parents experiencing parenting difficulties. An ongoing concern of nursing staff and management is whether the parenting knowledge and skills gained are translated into sustainable parenting practices after discharge. This paper explores the response to a post discharge telephone interview about parents’ experience of nursing care during their residential stay and their parenting experience since discharge. A descriptive qualitative approach identified four themes in the parents’ responses: greater confidence, greater knowledge about their babies, changing expectations of parenting and their infants, and sustainability of parenting skills.