OBJECTIVE: To identify the available knowledge about the process of recovery of hospitalized children and their families after discharge. METHODS: Integrative review of literature in databases - national and international - with a qualitative approach. RESULTS: The 16 selected articles belonging to international journals were published between 1990 and 2005; they allowed the identification of the following topics: biopsychosocial manifestations of the child and his family; Biopsychosocial factors related to the manifestations of the child and his family; benefits of early discharge of the child; and, information and support needed. CONCLUSIONS: The interventions focused on the child and his family should be started in the hospital check-in in order to improve their ability to cope with the situation. There is need to enhance research on this topic in developing countries, including the prospect of the family as a unit.
Child, hospitalized; Convalescence; Family; Pediatric nursing; Patient discharge