A qualitative study exploring the experiences of parents of children admitted to seven Dutch pediatric intensive care units.
Intensive Care Med 2010;
37:319-25. [PMID:
21063674 PMCID:
PMC3028069 DOI:
10.1007/s00134-010-2074-3]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2010] [Accepted: 09/15/2010] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE
To explore parents' experiences during the admission of their children to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).
METHOD
Qualitative method using in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis was applied to capture parents' experiences. Thirty-nine mothers and 25 fathers of 41 children admitted to seven of the eight PICUs in university medical centers in The Netherlands were interviewed.
RESULTS
Parents were interviewed within 1 month after their child's discharge from a PICU. Thematic analysis identified 1,514 quotations that were coded into 63 subthemes. The subthemes were categorized into six major themes: attitude of the professionals; coordination of care; emotional intensity; information management; environmental factors; parent participation. Most themes had an overarching relationship representing the array of experiences encountered by parents when their child was staying in a PICU. The theme of emotional intensity was in particular associated with all the other themes.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings provided a range of themes and subthemes describing the complexity of the parental experiences of a PICU admission. The subthemes present a systematic and thematic basis for the development of a quantitative instrument to measure parental experiences and satisfaction with care. The findings of this study have important clinical implications related to the deeper understanding of parental experiences and improving family-centered care.
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