EXPERIENCES AND NEEDS OF PARENTS CARING FOR THEIR CHILD DURING THEIR CHILD’S DAY SURGERY: A DESCRIPTIVE QUALITATIVE STUDY

Abstract

Background: Pediatric surgery is a distressing and overwhelming experience for not only the children undergoing surgery, but also for their parents. These feelings may be heightened for parents of children undergoing day surgery procedures specifically, as the responsibility to care for and monitor the child is predominantly placed in the hands of parents. However to date, there is limited knowledge on the specific needs of these parents and how they experience this journey. Aims: To explore the needs and experiences of parents caring for their child undergoing day surgery and to identify areas for improvement given the current practices. Methods: A descriptive qualitative design was used. Ten parents of children undergoing day surgery in a public tertiary hospital in Singapore were recruited using purposive sampling. Using a semi-structured interview guide, interviews were conducted face-to-face approximately 2 weeks after the child’s surgery. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings: Five themes and 14 subthemes emerged from this study: “Negative emotions during the perioperative period”, “‘Fast paced’ environment leading to inadequate communication of information”, “Difficulties and challenges in caring for the child”, “Inadequate support received from hospital staff” and “Need for social and psychological support”. Parents reported feeling fearful, anxious and stressed throughout their child’s perioperative process. Parents also needed a great deal of informational support, psychological and social support from the healthcare team. Conclusion & Implications: This study provided a greater understanding of the experiences and needs of parents caring for their child who is undergoing day surgery. Future studies can consider conducting this study internationally, identifying the needs and experiences of single parents during this process or developing a technology-based, cost-effective and accessible solution to provide seamless care to children and their parents during the child’s day surgery which would address the concerns parents had in this study.