Making oneself at home? Examining the nurse-parent relationship

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Nursing
• Medical Sociology
• Family Studies

Background:

• Existing research on parental involvement in pediatric healthcare emphasizes family-centered care and partnership models.
• Limited studies explore the nuanced dynamics of parent-provider relationships, including power, status, and responsibility.
• The roles and expectations of parents with hospitalized children require further examination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the inherent paradox in the roles and expectations of parents with hospitalized children.
• To explore the dynamics of relationships, practice, and issues of responsibility, status, and power in pediatric care settings.
• To provide an in-depth understanding of the parent's position as both visitor and partner.

Main Methods:

• Employed participant observation within an interpretive research framework.
• Conducted in-depth qualitative analysis of parental experiences in a hospital environment.
• Focused on understanding the subjective realities of parents caring for hospitalized children.

Main Results:

• Parents experience a fundamental paradox, being simultaneously expected to act as partners in care and treated as mere visitors.
• The study identified tensions between parental expectations and the practical realities of their involvement.
• Observations revealed complex negotiations of responsibility, status, and power dynamics between parents and healthcare professionals.

Conclusions:

• The findings highlight a critical gap between the ideal of family-centered care and the lived experiences of parents.
• Healthcare practices need to better accommodate and acknowledge the dual role of parents as both visitors and active care partners.
• Addressing the paradox is essential for improving family-integrated care and enhancing child and family well-being during hospitalization.