From bedside vigilance to empowered parent: a descriptive qualitative study of maternal involvement in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Abstract

To explore the experiences of mothers of children hospitalized in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and the factors influencing their involvement in Singapore.Convenience sampling was used to recruit mothers of children aged 0 to 18 years old hospitalized in a PICU for at least 48 h from a public tertiary hospital in Singapore from September to November 2023. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 mothers in person until data saturation was achieved. Thereafter, data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themes and thirteen subthemes were identified. The themes were: (1) Emotional roller-coaster, (2) Redefining mother's duties, (3) Collaborating with the healthcare team, (4) Barriers to Maternal Involvement. Conclusions: Mothers felt hopeless and anxious during their child's hospitalization but rarely showed outward signs of emotional distress. Mothers were motivated to be involved in caregiving activities by their desire to reclaim their maternal role. Mothers worked closely together with the healthcare providers. However, maternal involvement was limited by their fear of causing more harm, inconducive spaces, and balancing their sick child and other siblings at home. These findings provide a nuanced insight into maternal experiences and can help to inform enhanced family-centered care hospital policies. Triangulation of findings from PICU healthcare providers and other caregivers such as fathers and siblings is needed to holistically understand the support needs of such families. Practice implications: PICU healthcare providers need to pay greater attention to maternal emotional well-being. After more research on families with children in PICU, hospitals could seek to implement family-centred psychosocial support programs for parents and siblings.