Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Implantation of Total Artificial Heart in Congenital Heart Disease
Published on: July 18, 2014
Constantly responsible, constantly worried, constantly blessed: parenting after pediatric heart transplant
Angela Green1, Julie Meaux, Amy Huett
1Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock 72202, USA. GreenAL@archildrens.org
Context:
Very little research has focused on the long-term caregiving demands associated with parenting a child after a transplant or on the parents' perceptions of those demands.
Purpose:
To describe parents' experiences parenting a school-aged child after heart transplant.
Design:
Focused ethnography.
Participants And Setting:
Eleven parents of children who had undergone heart transplant 2 or more years before the study were recruited from a large children's hospital.
Data Collection And Analysis:
Parents were interviewed in a private location of their choice. Verbatim interview transcripts were analyzed by using content analysis and constant comparison.
Results:
The parents described their experiences in positive terms, yet acknowledged hardships. Key themes included (1) constantly responsible, (2) constantly worried, (3) constantly blessed, and (4) coping with life. The identified themes provide direction for interventions to help parents cope with the experience of parenting a child after heart transplant.
Related Concept Videos
Kidney Transplant III: Nursing Management
Cardiomyopathy VII: Pre and Post Operative Nursing Management
Cardiomyopathy V: Interprofessional Care
Kidney Transplant I: Introduction
Tissue Transplantation
The Biology of Tissue Transplantation
The biology of tissue transplantation hinges on the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules. These molecules...
Kidney Transplant II: Surgical Procedure