Conditions for parents' participation in the care of their child in neonatal intensive care – a field study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To promote participation by parents in the care of their child in neonatal intensive care units (NICU), health professionals need better understanding of what facilitates and what obstructs participation. The aim was to elucidate conditions for parents' participation in the care of their child in NICUs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A field study with a hermeneutic lifeworld approach was used and data were collected at two NICUs through participative observations and interviews with representatives of management, staff and parents.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results point to a number of contradictions in the way parents were offered the opportunity to participate in neonatal intensive care. Management and staff both had good ambitions to develop ideal care that promoted parent participation. However, the care including the conditions for parental participation was driven by the terms of the staff, routines focusing on the medical-technical care and environment, and budgetary constraints.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The result shows that tangible strategies need to be developed in NICUs aimed at optimising conditions for parents to be present and involved in the care of their child.</p

The encounter with the unknown: Nurses lived experiences of their responsibility for the care of the patient in the Swedish ambulance service

Registered nurses (RNs) have, according to the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, the overall responsibility for the medical care in the ambulance care setting. Bringing RNs into the ambulance service are judged, according to earlier studies, to lead to a degree of professionalism with a higher quality of medical care. Implicitly in earlier studies, the work in the ambulance service involves interpersonal skills. The aim of this study was to describe RNs' experiences of being responsible for the care of the patient in the Swedish ambulance service. A reflective lifeworld approach within the perspective of caring science was used. Five RNs with at least five years experience from care in the ambulance care setting were interviewed. The findings show that the essence of the phenomenon is to prepare and create conditions for care and to accomplish care close to the patient. Three meaning constituents emerged in the descriptions: prepare and create conditions for the nursing care, to be there for the patient and significant others and create comfort for the patient and significant others. The responsibility is a complex phenomenon, with a caring perspective, emerging from the encounter with the unique human being

3-4 year-old children's emotional development Promotion fairy familiarization Processes

This study aimed to identify, describe and generate concepts regarding health care professionals’ information exchanges with minors and/or their parents/guardians in paediatric caring situations. The study took place at three paediatric outpatient units at a university hospital and there were 15 health care professionals involved. Using the grounded theory and the constant comparative analysis methods, the data collection and analysis was undertaken simultaneously, using participant observation, review of medical records and follow-up interviews. The main concern of the health care professionals that emerged as the core category was: sharing and contributing responsibility, interrelated with the six categories; interchanging of knowledge, relationship-creating chat, calculated confirming, encouraging, dichotomous talking and of situation related effects. This research has explored the elements of information exchange in caring situations and highlighted the interaction between the involved persons. These findings could be valuable to health care professionals in order to develop and improve their caring skills.This is the Authors’ version of the following article:Eva Mårtenson, Astrid Fägerskiöld and Carina Berterö, Observations of health care professionals sharing and contributing responsibility in paediatric caring situations, 2009, International Journal of Nursing Practice, (15), 3, 185-190.which has been published in final form at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-172X.2009.01743.xCopyright: Blackwell Publishing Ltdhttp://www.blackwellpublishing.com