Pediatric nurses are taught to interact with hospitalized children based upon the work of major developmental theorists and studies of children’s responses to illness and interventions. There is limited research, however, on children’s perceptions of hospitalization and of nurse behaviors based upon the words of children. The aim of this qualitative replication study was to further describe children’s perceptions of nurses and identify nurse behaviors that best helped these children cope with hospitalization. This study sample allowed comparison among children with varying diagnoses and who were Spanish-speaking. Peplau’s theory of Psychodynamic Nursing guided this study. A survey was used to elicit children’s thoughts and feelings about their experiences with nurses while hospitalized at a major children’s hospital in a large city in the Midwest. The survey questions were written based upon the literature and revised following the review of experts; one question was added following the original study. The survey was read to younger children; older children responded to a written self-report version of the survey. Using qualitative descriptive analysis, themes were identified and similarities and differences among and between demographic groups were generated. All of the children in this study reported positive feelings about nurses. Themes identified were consistent with those from the first study. Children perceived nurses to be kind and caring and appreciated the following: interactions which acknowledged the child as an individual, provision of physical comfort and basic physical needs, age-appropriate entertainment/diversion, behaviors perceived as protective, reassuring words, and caring attitudes. As the children aged, they were more likely to identify the importance of verbal interaction with the nurse as helpful during hospitalization. The most frequently identified negative behavior was infliction of pain. This type of qualitative data will generate understanding of the child’s perspectives and provide the insight to facilitate effective and therapeutic interactions.
Session #1193 - Issues Related to the Care of Infants & Children
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)