International Pediatric Nursing
Column Editor: Bonnie Holaday, DNS, RN, FAAN
Narratives of Children With Chronic Illness About Being Comforted

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2007.04.006Get rights and content

The aim of the study was to examine how children with chronic illnesses narrate their experience of being comforted in hospital. During interviews, seven children, 4–10 years old described their experiences and made drawings. Thematic content analysis revealed following themes: being physically close to one's family, feeling safe and secure, staff being there for the children, and children being there for parents and siblings. Mother was identified as the most important comforter. The findings suggest that trusting in the staff's knowledge and professional skills is a prerequisite for children to feel “at home”, and safe in hospital. Being close to one's family is even more important.

Section snippets

Ethical Considerations

Seven children and their parents were informed about the study, both verbally and in writing. Information was simplified for the children. The parents and children gave their informed consent and were ensured confidentiality and anonymous presentation of results. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden (§438/98).

Participants

The study included a purposive sample of four girls and three boys aged 4–10 years, admitted to a pediatric ward at a large

The Interviews and the Drawings

The following themes were formulated: being physically close to one's family, feeling safe and secure, staff being there for the children, and children being there for parents and siblings. In all, the children produced 22 drawings, which depicted their mother, father, and siblings; a rainbow; their house or home; the hospital and an ambulance; and their stuffed animals or pets.

Below, the themes are presented and illustrated by citations from the interviews together with examples of the

Discussion

The children said that being physically close to one's family, feeling safe and secure, the staff being there for the children, and children being there for parents and siblings were sources of comfort to them. They said that it was important to have their families close by at the hospital. It was most often their mother who stayed with them at the hospital. Similar findings were also reported by Woodgate and Kristjanson (1996c) and Young, Dixon-Woods, Findlay, and Heney (2002). Parents,

Conclusion

This study shows that comfort is a well-understood concept among hospitalized children with chronic illnesses. The children narrated their experiences of being comforted by talking and drawing. They emphasized the importance of their mother as a comforter. Other comforters mentioned were the father, the siblings, the hospital staff, and the children's toys and other personal items, such as a blanket, brought to hospital. The overall finding is that feeling “at home,” as well as feeling safe by

Acknowledgment

This project was supported by the Swedish Foundation for Health Care Sciences and Allergy Research (Dnr 1999/009). The authors would like to thank the children who participated in this study as well as their parents.

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