Perceived needs of parents of critically ill children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric critical care nursing
• Family-centered care
• Healthcare needs assessment

Background:

• Critically ill children require specialized care, impacting families significantly.
• Understanding parental needs is crucial for effective family-centered care in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs).
• Discrepancies in perceived needs between parents and healthcare providers can affect care quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify the needs of parents with critically ill hospitalized children.
• To compare parental perceptions with those of critical care nurses.
• To determine differences in perceived needs between these two groups.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive, comparative study design was employed.
• Participants included parents/primary caregivers (n=21) and pediatric critical care nurses (n=17) in a Midwestern PICU.
• The Critical Care Family Needs Inventory (modified for pediatrics) and demographic questionnaires were used.

Main Results:

• Information, assurance, and proximity to the child were identified as priority needs by parents.
• Significant differences in specific needs were found between parent/caregiver and nurse matched pairs.
• No significant differences were observed in the total perceived needs scores between parents and nurses.

Conclusions:

• Interventions are needed to better address the needs of parents with critically ill children.
• Consistent identification and prioritization of parental needs in the plan of care can improve outcomes.
• Research-based interventions can facilitate parental adaptation during a child's critical hospitalization.