Parental Experiences While Waiting For Children Undergoing Surgery in Singapore
Wen Jing Hui1, Minna Pikkarainen2, Shireen Anne Nah3
1Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Division of Nursing, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore.
Insights
Parental waiting experiences during pediatric surgery are unsettling. Key factors include care, concerns about complications, and coping strategies, with recommendations for improved hospital communication and technology.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Healthcare Experience
- Qualitative Research
Background:
- Waiting periods during pediatric surgery can be stressful for parents.
- Understanding parental needs is crucial for improving healthcare quality.
- Previous research has not fully explored these specific experiences in Singapore.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the experiences and needs of parents during their children's surgical waiting periods.
- To identify factors influencing parental waiting experiences.
- To gather recommendations for enhancing the hospital environment and care provision.
Main Methods:
- A descriptive qualitative study utilizing thematic analysis.
- Purposive sampling of 11 parents with first-time surgical waiting experiences for their children (≤16 years).
- Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted.
Main Results:
- Four themes emerged: care provision, parental concerns, coping strategies, and recommendations.
- Factors influencing experiences included pre-operative instructions, medical team professionalism, and communication timeliness.
- Parental concerns focused on surgical outcomes, complications, anesthesia, and post-operative pain; coping involved rest, smart devices, and social support.
Conclusions:
- Parental waiting during pediatric surgery is unsettling, highlighting the need for supportive interventions.
- Findings offer insights into parental needs, guiding improvements in hospital practices and technology adoption.
- Enhanced communication, environmental adjustments, and digital tools can improve the parental waiting experience.
Purpose:
To explore the experiences and needs of parents while waiting for their children undergoing surgery.
Designs And Methods:
A descriptive qualitative study was conducted. A purposive sample of 11 parents who went through their first waiting experiences during their children's surgeries in a Singapore public hospital was recruited. Children younger than or equal to 16 years of age were included. A semi-structured interview guide facilitated the individual face-to-face interviews. Thematic analysis was used.
Results:
Four themes were identified: "Care and care provision affecting waiting experiences", "Parental concerns and surgery affecting waiting experiences", "Coping strategies used during waiting periods" and "Recommendations to improve waiting experiences". Pre-operative instructions, the professionalism of medical teams, and a lack of timely updates affected parental experiences. Parents expressed their worries. The complexities and types of surgery influenced how they felt. Their concerns included potential complications, surgical outcomes, anesthesia-related side effects, and post-operative care including pain. They spent their waiting times eating, resting, using their smart devices, and coping with a support system. Environmental improvements, more updates, and mobile applications were recommended by the participants.
Conclusion:
For a parent, the wait during his/her child's surgery can be unsettling. Our results give insights into parental waiting experiences and needs during their children's surgeries.
Practice Implications:
These findings can guide the improvement of the current practise based on our evidence or the implementation of newer technology to provide better waiting experiences for parents during their children's surgeries and to enhance the quality of clients' experiences in the hospital.
