Brenner, M., Larkin, P., Hilliard, C., Cawley, D., Howlin, F., & Connolly, M. (2015). Parents’ perspectives of the transition to home when a child has complex technological health care needs. International journal of integrated care, 15(3). There is growing number of children with chronic healthcare needs yet little research about the transition from hospital to primary care and home. This study used qualitative methods to analyze parents of chronically sick children coping strategies. 12 mothers and 3 fathers were interviewed regarding 15 sick children. The parents were all asked the following open-ended questions: “What enabled their transition to home, any difficulties they encountered in making the transition to caring for their child at home and any concerns they had about caring for their child with complex care needs in the home.”
Four key themes
1. Stepping Stones: Negotiating the Move to Home
2. Fighting and frustration
3. Questioning competence
4. Coping into the future
1. Stepping Stones: Negotiating the …show more content…
Although my clinical question is about supporting the child’s parents with chronic illness (not death) I think that a lot of the same principles of this research study can be applied. This study tested a phone program where a familiar nurse would contact the family to offer support. Nurses were trained in supportive service and counseling. Strategies like open-ended questions, reflective listening (it sounds like..) and “tell me more about that” were used. A call reminder system was used. The program lasted for a year. Parents appreciated the sense of connection from someone that “really knew their child.” The nurses were also able to identify the service gaps and work with interdisciplinary team colleagues to improve the parent’s