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At home parent-administered dressing changes in paediatric burns aftercare: Interviews on parents' experiences of
Dean M Thompson1, Clare Thomas2, Lisa Hyde2
1Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK.
Insights
Parents want to manage their child's burn dressing changes at home, but need reassurance from healthcare professionals. This study explores their experiences and supports developing best practice guidance for home-based paediatric burn care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nursing
- Burn Care Management
- Qualitative Research
Background:
- Pediatric burn injuries cause significant physical and psychosocial distress for children and families.
- Home-based dressing changes can reduce hospital visits for pediatric burn patients.
- Parental experiences with administering these changes remain under-researched.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe parents' experiences administering dressing changes for pediatric burn aftercare.
- To understand parental decision-making, training needs, and emotional considerations in home-based burn care.
Main Methods:
- Semi-structured interviews with 17 parents from a UK pediatric burns center.
- Thematic analysis using a framework approach, including associative analysis.
- Exploration of parental identity, challenges, and received reassurance.
Main Results:
- Parents desire active involvement in their child's burn care at home.
- Key themes include parental identity shifts, managing practical/emotional challenges, and the importance of professional reassurance.
- Concerns regarding dressing change effectiveness lack empirical support.
Conclusions:
- Parents are willing to perform home-based dressing changes if confident in managing their child's burn severity.
- Findings support developing and evaluating best practice guidelines for parent-administered burn care.
- This research provides preliminary data to enhance pediatric burn aftercare protocols.
Objective:
Paediatric burn injuries present physical and psychosocial effects for children and their parents, including disruption to family life. Some burns services in the UK enable parents to administer dressing changes at home to reduce the number of hospital visits. To date, there is no research on parents' experiences of administering dressing changes. The aim of this study was to describe parents' experiences of administering dressing changes in paediatric burns aftercare.
Methods:
Semi-structured research interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of parents recruited from a paediatric burns centre in the UK. The interview addressed the initial offer of at-home dressing changes by clinicians; parental decision-making in relation to dressing changes; training and support received; and the experience of administering dressing changes, including practical and emotional considerations. Thematic analysis of the data was informed by the framework approach, including associative analysis using demographic and clinical characteristics.
Results:
Seventeen participants were interviewed. Three themes of parents' experiences of administering dressing changes were identified including (1) Parental Identity concerning the newly undertaken responsibility and the impact on the parental role; (2) Challenges, physical or emotional, confronted or lessened by administering dressing changes; and (3) Reassurance provided by healthcare professionals and others to support parents to adopt and maintain parent-administered dressing changes.
Conclusion:
The qualitative data reported here indicates that parents want to be involved in their child's care by administering dressing changes at home, provided they receive sufficient reassurance that they are able to manage the severity of their child's burn. Parents' concerns about the effectiveness of their dressing changes lacks empirical basis, and this study provides preliminary data to support the development and evaluation of best practice guidance for parent-administered dressing changes in paediatric burns aftercare.
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