Page 44 - Petelin, Ana. 2020. Ed. Zdravje delovno aktivne populacije / Health of the Working-Age Population. Proceedings. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 44
avje delovno aktivne populacije | health of the working-age population 42 nurse challenge. Future studies on the strategies used by parents during
their child’s long-term hospitalization and its evaluation are needed.
Keywords: long-term hospital stay; parents; anxiety; stress; sleep
disorders
Introduction
Parents have an important role on their children health care. While the focus
of healthcare professionals is mostly the child; the financial, social and emo-
tional impact on the child’s parents is, often, overlooked. Considering that a
child’s hospitalization is, in most cases, unexpected, Melnyk (2000) affirmed
that hospitalization could be a stressful situation for children and their par-
ents/families, which may interfere with the care provided and thus with the re-
covery of the child.
As children’s recovery depend, not only on the medical care, but also in
the care and affection they may receive or not, it is crucial that nurses provide
attention to the child, in addition to their technical expertise (Teixeira Luz et
al., 2019).
Health care professionals must be sensitive to the parent’s emotional
needs as parents are an integrative component of the holistic care provided
to the child. This is important as the parental presence and active participa-
tion during the child’s hospitalization positively influences the health reestab-
lishment due to stress reduction caused by the child’s exposure to the hospi-
tal environment (Teixeira Luz et al., 2019). Yet, each family has different coping
strategies, and it becomes extremely important for nurses to provide an indi-
vidualized plan of care (Erdem, 2010), demonstrate empathy, compassion and
kindness to engage with the children and their parents (Micalizzi et al., 2015),
holistically.
A child’s hospitalization may trigger parental stress, surface symptoms of
anxiety and depression which will compromise their ability to give their child,
proper support. (Nicholaou and Glazebrook, 2008). Given this, nurses should
incite parents’ ability to cope with these symptoms (Cescutti-Butler and Gal-
vin, 2003). The partnership in care between parents and nurses allows, not on-
ly, for sharing of expertise, but it also provides an important sense of control
from the parents over their child’s hospital care as well as it builds a vital rela-
tionship of trust and confidence towards the healthcare team. (Mimmo et al.,
2019).
Although the negative impact of long-term hospital admissions on par-
ents are recognized, there is a dispersion of knowledge in the literature, which
hampers the synthesis of best available evidence and thus its application into
clinical practice. To achieve the proposed objective, the defined research ques-
tion is: “What are the health problems experienced by parents of children in
long-term hospitalization?”
their child’s long-term hospitalization and its evaluation are needed.
Keywords: long-term hospital stay; parents; anxiety; stress; sleep
disorders
Introduction
Parents have an important role on their children health care. While the focus
of healthcare professionals is mostly the child; the financial, social and emo-
tional impact on the child’s parents is, often, overlooked. Considering that a
child’s hospitalization is, in most cases, unexpected, Melnyk (2000) affirmed
that hospitalization could be a stressful situation for children and their par-
ents/families, which may interfere with the care provided and thus with the re-
covery of the child.
As children’s recovery depend, not only on the medical care, but also in
the care and affection they may receive or not, it is crucial that nurses provide
attention to the child, in addition to their technical expertise (Teixeira Luz et
al., 2019).
Health care professionals must be sensitive to the parent’s emotional
needs as parents are an integrative component of the holistic care provided
to the child. This is important as the parental presence and active participa-
tion during the child’s hospitalization positively influences the health reestab-
lishment due to stress reduction caused by the child’s exposure to the hospi-
tal environment (Teixeira Luz et al., 2019). Yet, each family has different coping
strategies, and it becomes extremely important for nurses to provide an indi-
vidualized plan of care (Erdem, 2010), demonstrate empathy, compassion and
kindness to engage with the children and their parents (Micalizzi et al., 2015),
holistically.
A child’s hospitalization may trigger parental stress, surface symptoms of
anxiety and depression which will compromise their ability to give their child,
proper support. (Nicholaou and Glazebrook, 2008). Given this, nurses should
incite parents’ ability to cope with these symptoms (Cescutti-Butler and Gal-
vin, 2003). The partnership in care between parents and nurses allows, not on-
ly, for sharing of expertise, but it also provides an important sense of control
from the parents over their child’s hospital care as well as it builds a vital rela-
tionship of trust and confidence towards the healthcare team. (Mimmo et al.,
2019).
Although the negative impact of long-term hospital admissions on par-
ents are recognized, there is a dispersion of knowledge in the literature, which
hampers the synthesis of best available evidence and thus its application into
clinical practice. To achieve the proposed objective, the defined research ques-
tion is: “What are the health problems experienced by parents of children in
long-term hospitalization?”
