The benefits of home care for sick premature infants.

The care of sick premature infants at home is evaluated in terms of the benefits related to the health outcome of infants. The home care was provided by trained pediatric nurses through a service-oriented community agency. Pediatric nurses delivered home care 24 hours or less to sick very low birth weight infants discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit in lieu of continued hospitalization. Nursing care at home is described along with a sample nursing care plan for an infant with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The efficacy of home care on medical utilization indicated that there were less hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and visits to the specialty clinics than previously reported in the literature. Home visitation appeared to improve the health of high-risk premature infants, is cost effective, and may be less stressful for parents.