Children's experiences of acute hospitalisation to a paediatric emergency and assessment unit--a qualitative study.

Summary, in English

Short-stay treatment has become a popular form of care as a strategy to cope with increased demands on health care. There is little research that considers children's experiences of acute hospitalisation to a short-stay care facility such as a Paediatric Emergency and Assessment Unit (PEAU). This study explored the experiences of eight children aged 8-10 years. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to investigate the children's own experiences of being hospitalised in a PEAU. Thematic content analyses were used. Three major themes were identified: the children's understanding of disease, treatment and procedures; the children's experiences of health-care personnel and the PEAU and transformation of everyday life into the settings of the hospital. The children identified the hospital stay as an overall positive experience. The children took part in leisure activities as they would at home and enjoyed time together with their parents while in hospital. In their conversations with staff they adapted to professional terms that they did not necessarily understand. They did not differentiate between professionals. Further work should be considered to clarify the consequences of this. This study has provided some limited insight into the child's experiences of acute hospitalisation, which should inform nursing care.

• Author: Claus Sixtus Jensen; Karen Jackson; Raymond Kolbaek; Stinne Glasdam
• Department/s: Department of Health Sciences; Integrative Health Research
• Publishing year: 2012
• Language: English
• Pages: 73-263
• Publication/Series: Journal of Child Health Care
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 3
• Full text: - 714 kB; Download statistics
• Links: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Childrens%20experiences%20of%20acute%20hospitalisation%20to%20a%20paediatric%20emergency%20and%20assessment%20unit%20-%20%20a%20qualitative%20study; http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1367493511431071
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Topic: Health Sciences
• Status: Published
• Research group: Integrative Health Research
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1741-2889