Evaluation of Satisfaction With Care in Paediatric Intensive Care Units: Swedish Parents' Perspective

A child's hospitalization in a paediatric intensive care unit is a stressful experience for parents. Measuring parental satisfaction may indicate how parents are affected by the experience. Satisfaction with care is closely connected to the overall quality of care.

The aim was to explore parental satisfaction with paediatric intensive care.

A cross-sectional study design was utilized at two PICUs in Sweden. Inclusion criteria were parents who spoke and understood Swedish and whose child was < 18 years old and hospitalized at the PICU for at least 48 h. Exclusion criteria were parents whose child died during the care period at the PICU. The questionnaire EMPATHIC-30, grounded in the principles of family-centred care, was the basis for the data collection. Descriptive statistics and a non-parametric test (Mann-Whitney U-test) were used to present the data.

A total of 234 questionnaires were distributed, and the response rate was 42.73%. Notably, 100 parents responded to the questionnaire, and 97 were included (mothers n = 50 and fathers n = 47). The parents' mean age was 36.26 years (SD 7.00) and ranged between 23 to 61 years. The results revealed high levels of parental satisfaction with the care provided according to total scale (5.53), domains (5.42-5.77), as well as single items (4.44-5.99). The EMPATHIC-30 scores indicated that parents felt well-informed about their child's condition and received emotional support from health care professionals. Additionally, the study identified areas for improvement, such as the need for enhanced communication, being actively involved in the process of decision-making as well as being involved/prepared before discharge from the PICU.

Parents expressed high satisfaction across the five domains and for the total scale. However, areas for improvement were identified for individual items. Factors that tended to give lower satisfaction were communication between health care professionals and parents, as well as parents' active involvement in decision-making regarding their child's care.

The results of this study emphasize the need for health care organizations to prioritize communication strategies for parents of children cared for at PICUs. By applying a person-centred two-way communication, health care professionals can facilitate open and transparent communication with parents, which can promote parental involvement in care and decision-making.