Nursing Support for Parents of Hospitalized Children

Background: Having a child in hospital is a stressful experience for most parents. Support from nurses can assist parents to maintain their parenting role and promote quality pediatric nursing care. Aims and objectives: The aim of the study is to describe the quality of nurse-parent support in Iranian parents of hospitalized children in pediatric sites. Methods: This was a descriptive study using a convenience sample. Two hundred and thirty parents (183 mothers and 47 fathers) with hospitalized children took part in this survey that used the Nurse Parent Support Tool (NPST). This validated instrument has 21 items and 4 subscales (Informational Giving and Communication Support; Emotional Support; Appraisal Support and Instrumental Support), and was translated into Farsi. Results: The total mean of the NPST was M = 4.1 (SD = 0.7). There was a significant difference between gender of the parents and the Instrumental Support subscale. Also, there was significant difference between among education level of parents and Emotional Support. In addition, there was significant difference related to the gender of the child and Information Giving and Communication Support and Appraisal Support. There was no significant difference in any of the subscales when analyzed for length of hospitalization, kind of diseases and age of children. Conclusions: The findings indicate that parents received a high level of support from nurses. Nurses can promote the quality of family care and should be aware of the importance of the several types of nursing support in meeting the requests of parents. It is important that nurses continue to develop their knowledge about types of communication with the family, especially in providing support for the parent role.