A qualitative study exploring the experiences of parents of children admitted to seven Dutch pediatric intensive care units

• Published in: Intensive care medicine 2011-02, Vol.37 (2), p.319-325
• Main Authors: Latour, Jos M., van Goudoever, Johannes B., Schuurman, Beatrix Elink, Albers, Marcel J. I. J., van Dam, Nicolette A. M., Dullaart, Eugenie, van Heerde, Marc, Verlaat, Carin W. M., van Vught, Elise M., Hazelzet, Jan A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic Medical Centers; Adult; Analysis; Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Anesthesiology; Attitude of Health Personnel; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Clinical death. Palliative care. Organ gift and preservation; Consumer Behavior; Critical Care Medicine; Emergency Medicine; Female; Humans; Infant; Intensive; Intensive care medicine; Intensive Care Units, Pediatric - standards; Interviews as Topic; Male; Medical centers; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Neonatology; Netherlands; Pain Medicine; Parenting; Parents - psychology; Pediatric intensive care; Pediatric Original; Pediatrics; Pneumology/Respiratory System; Qualitative research; Quality of Health Care; Stress, Psychological; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0342-4642; 1432-1238
• DOI: 10.1007/s00134-010-2074-3

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.