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"Mastering uncertainty:" mothering the child with asthma
Pediatric Nursing
|January 1, 1996
Abstract
Purpose:
To describe the meaning childhood asthma has for mothers of afflicted children.
Method:
The qualitative method, ethnography, was used in this study. Participant observation and indepth interviewing took place in the homes of the participants. Using a method adapted from Spradley (1979), the analysis included uncovering domains, taxonomies, components of meaning, and finally cultural themes.
Findings:
The overall theme that emerged was "mastering uncertainty." The mothers expressed their experiences in terms of self by describing "internal self" and "actions" during a "passage of time."
Conclusions:
These themes can assist nurses and other health care professionals in understanding the meaning of childhood asthma to mothers.