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Abstract
In this study a questionnaire was sent to 227 health visitors in two counties in Sweden. One hundred and thirty-six respondents (65%) returned the questionnaires. The aim of the study was to investigate if there were any special care routines with regard to premature infants and their families after the infant was discharged from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). In addition, we wanted to know how the health visitors perceived working with premature infants. A large majority of the health visitors were content with the routines surrounding the transfer from the hospital to the Child Health Care. Those who were not content teported communication problems. The findings also suggest that the health visitors do not have a specifically developed programme to care for premature infants and their families. What is offered varies depending on the interest and training of each individual health visitor. Most of the health visitors (71%) enjoyed working with premature infants and their families. Seventy per cent did not perceive it as either an easy or difficult to work with premature infants and their families. The implications of these results for the monitoring of premature infants and their families are discussed.