Regina Szylit

Parental expectations of support from healthcare providers during pediatric life-threatening illness: A secondary, qualitative analysis

Purposes To explain parental expectations of support from healthcare providers for their parenting roles and goals during a childs life‐threatening illness (LTI). Design and Methods Qualitative interpretive study guided by the Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response Model. Thematic analyses were conducted with data from 31 semi‐structured interviews of parents of children with LTI using systematic strategies to ensure rigor including audit trails and prolonged engagement. Results We identified three themes and one meta‐theme or overall theme: (1) “Help us survive this,” (2) “Lets fight together: please fight with me, not against me, to care for my family,” and (3) “Guide me through the darkness: I am suffering.” Overall, the parents conveyed that they expect mutuality with the health care providers and system in order to keep Fighting together for my family survival. Conclusions In the daily work of caring for their families, parents of children with LTI consider survival on multiple levels. They consider the life, illness, and potential death of one child while considering the on‐going survival and sustenance of family relationships. Practice Implications Parents are distressed and grapple with conflicted feelings about managing competing needs of various family members. Relationships with health care providers can influence parents’ management of the situation and be a source of support as their parenting role changes over the illness trajectory, time, and in response to adversity. HighlightsParents grapple with conflicting feelings regarding competing needs of their ill and healthy children and the expectations held of them as parents.Nurses can influence parents’ management of the situation and be a source of support as parenting roles change over illness course and time.Despite a childs LTI, parents want pediatric healthcare providers to engage with them to promote survival and growth of family relationships.

Invitation to grief in the family context

ABSTRACT Grief is a family affair, yet it is commonly viewed as an individual phenomenon. As an international, interdisciplinary team, we explore grief within a family context across theoretical, research, practice, and educational domains. Families are complex and working with this complexity is challenging but necessary for a holistic view of grief. We therefore encourage an increased focus on theorizing, researching, practicing, and educating using innovative approaches to address the complexities of grief within the context of families. Learnings from within each domain will affirm and enhance the development of family-level thinking and approaches.

Educational Workshop using games improves self-monitoring of blood glucose among children

ABSTRACT Objective: to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational workshop using games to improve self-monitoring of blood glucose techniques for school children with type 1 diabetes. Method: a quasi-experimental study was conducted with school children who attended two outpatient clinics of a university hospital. Data were collected by systematic observation of the self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) technique before and after the intervention. Data analysis consisted of verifying changes while performing the technique, using pre- and post-intervention compliance rates using statistical tests. The sample consisted of 33 children. Each child participated in one session; 17 educational workshops were conducted in total. Results: we found an increased frequency of SMBG, changing lancets, rotation of puncture sites, as well as calibration and periodic checking of date and time of the glucose meter. Comparisons pre- and post-intervention showed that the average number of steps in accordance with the SMBG technique increased from 5.30 to 6.58, whereas the steps “Changing the lancet of the lancing device”, “Pressing the puncture site” and “Disposing of materials used in a needlestick container” showed statistically significant differences. Conclusion: the educational workshop was effective, as it improved children’s performance of the SBMG technique.

Care for families after suicide loss: nursing academic experience

OBJECTIVE To understand how the nursing academics experience the process of taking care of bereaved families after a suicide loss, to identify the meanings of the experience and to build a theoretical model. METHOD Qualitative study that used symbolic interactionism and grounded theory. Open interviews were held with 16 nursing academics. Data were analyzed according to the constant comparative method. RESULTS The phenomenon seeking his/her own restoration to help the bereaved family to move on is represented by the theoretical model composed by the categories: facing the tragedy in the family, evaluating the caring scenario, mobilizing his/her internal resources, performing the care and reflecting on the repercussions of the experience. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS The process represents efforts undertaken by students in the pursuit of the familys restoration to provide the best care toward them, through embracement, listening, sensitivity and flexibility, so it creates opportunities for the family to strengthen and plan their future.