Maternal-child nursing journal
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This article details the development of an instrument designed to assess the impact of certain environmental stressors in the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) on parents of hospitalized children. A theoretical framework based on stress theory and developed by the authors provided the framework for this project. This 62-item scale assessing seven dimensions of the PICU environment was developed in three stages. ⋯ In the third phase of the project, the revised instrument was administered to 510 parents while their children were in one of five pediatric ICUs. Factor analysis provided seven orthogonal, invariant factors. An alpha coefficient of .95 was obtained for the total instrument; subscale coefficients ranged from .72 to .99 providing support for internal consistency and construct validity.
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Matern Child Nurs J · Jan 1989
Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialThe influence of the timing of preparation on the anxiety of preschool children experiencing surgery.
A quasi-experimental design with two groups of preschool children was used to determine if surgical preparation offered at two different time periods would result in different levels of state anxiety and posthospital behavioral upset. Twenty-three children (3 to 6 years of age) were studied. The children in one group were prepared the afternoon before surgery, and the children in the other group were prepared the morning of surgery. ⋯ Also, the levels of anxiety of the children in the two preparation groups did not vary significantly with the type of surgery. The state anxiety mean score of the children in the morning preparation group at each time point was lower than the mean score of the children in the afternoon preparation group at each time point. Replication of the study with a larger sample size is recommended.
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Matern Child Nurs J · Jan 1989
The pediatric intensive care unit environment as a source of stress for parents.
Parents of children hospitalized in one of five midwestern pediatric intensive care units (ICU) were interviewed about the stress experienced from aspects of the ICU environment. Subjects were 324 mothers and 186 fathers of 350 children. Data were collected using the Parental Stressor Scale: Pediatric ICU which assesses seven dimensions of the environment: Child's Behavior and Emotions, Child's Appearance, Sights and Sounds, Procedures, Staff Communication, Anomie, and Parental Role Alteration. ⋯ The items from the Parental Role Alteration dimension with the highest stress scores were: feeling unable to protect my child and not knowing how to best help my child. Findings suggest that alterations in the parent-child relationship are more stressful than aspects of the physical environment. In particular, feeling helpless in the parenting role is a great source of stress for parents.