Family‐centred care and traumatic symptoms in parents of children admitted to PICU

Background Studies show that traumatic stress symptoms are common in parents of children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Family-centred care (FCC) has shown promising potential in reducing levels of traumatic stress in this group of parents. Objectives To investigate the association between parents’ experience of nursing care and levels of traumatisation, to identify potential gender differences within this group, and to examine the possible relationships among the severity of a child's illness, the parents’ fear of losing their child, and the parents’ experience of support and development of acute stress disorder (ASD) symptoms. Ethical issues/approval This study was approved by The Central Denmark Regional Committee on Health Research Ethics and by the Danish Data Agency (#1-16-02-87-11) and data were stored, protected and destroyed according to their regulations. Methodology/design This cross-sectional study involved 90 parents of children admitted to PICU at the University Hospital of Aarhus from August 2011 to August 2012. The parents filled out a self-report questionnaire package at the time of their child's discharge from the hospital. Results The experience of support from the nurses was high in both parents and was associated with ASD. About one-third of the parents had ASD or subclinical ASD. No significant gender differences existed when symptoms were measured dimensionally. When measured categorically, 17% of the mothers and 7% of the fathers had ASD. Mothers with very young children had higher levels of acute stress; fathers whose children had high illness severity scores exhibited more acute stress. Study limitations Limitations have been identified in relation to the sample size of the study, the cross-sectional design and the short amount of time the families were in contact with PICU. Conclusion The fathers and mothers were very pleased with the perceived care at the unit. The experienced care was positively associated with acute stress, but not with illness severity, or fear of losing the child. More research is needed to understand the dynamics of family-centred care.