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
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.
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Matern Child Nurs J · Jan 1984
ReviewA review of current approaches used to help children and parents cope with health care procedures.
There has been a long-standing belief that children and parents require preparation and support in the event of hospitalization. Programs that prepare children for hospitalization are designed to inform the child about what will happen and to familiarize the child with his environment. Although these programs provide only general information, they do impact upon the way a child can cope with specific procedures. ⋯ The effectiveness of these techniques, who can best use them, and when they should be used are questions still to be answered. The varying degrees of methodological rigor in present studies point to a need for further research. One cannot definitively state how closely nursing practice reflects available research findings as outlined in this article.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)