[Mothers attending hospitalized children: using Leininger's ethnonursing method].

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to discover the views of mothers with hospitalized children. Leininger's mini-ethnonursing method was used to explore and describe the views of Japanese mothers. A children's unit of a general hospital in Kanto in Japan was used for the field research. Six mothers who were with their hospitalized children were selected as the key informants. And 14 staff members on the unit including nurses, physicians, and nurse aides, were selected as the general informants. From nearly 140 days of observation-participation and reflection (Leininger enabler), the following themes were discovered; Theme 1: The mothers wanted to be close to their children (like tied to their navel string) and to be the only persons who could stay continually with their hospitalized child. Theme 2: The mothers tried to do everything by themselves, because they thought nurses were too busy and, therefore, they could not leave their children alone. They still wanted the nurses to help the child when they needed a long-term care at the hospital. Theme 3: The mothers expected an assurance of the life of their child and wanted an effective treatment from physicians, but held there was no one to consult fully with about their children's illness. Theme 4: Mothers searched companions who had the similar feelings and views, but didn't ask about their children's diagnosis. Theme 5: The mothers believed they had limited knowledge about prevention of an infection, but they tried to prevent by infection. Theme 6: The mothers were unaware of their fatigue and neglected to rest, sleep, and eat properly while child was hospitalized. Theme 7: The mothers did not expect their husbands to stay with their children, but expected their own mothers to help them. Theme 8: The mothers believed that nobody could explain and advise them about their daily life at the hospital, the medical systems and to reassure them. A recurrent theme was that "mothers took for granted that they must stay with" or "hold out" for their hospitalized child.