Going home after a child's cardiac surgery: education for safe care.

Objectives: to validate the content and appearance of the booklet "Going home after a child's cardiac surgery" and assess family members' cognitive learning regarding its use.

Methods: a methodological and quasi-experimental study of before and after type, with semi-structured interview, pre-test and reading of the booklet in a hospital; post-test and validation occurred after hospital discharge. Wilcoxon non-parametric statistics were used.

Results: nineteen family members of children with heart disease participated. The average of correct answers increased 14 percentage points from pre- to post-test; most were medication errors. There was a significant difference (p <0.0001) in the comparison between cognitive knowledge prior to using the booklet and learning acquired from its use. All items received a positive rating, except font size.

Conclusions: the booklet helps family members to understand a child's needs after cardiac surgery, and can be used to prevent unwanted occurrences and enable safe care at home.