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Parents' perceptions and expectations of health care providers within the context of the pediatric lung transplant experience were investigated using a phenomenological approach. Fifteen parents of 12 children were interviewed. Two theme clusters, concerned care and collaborative care, were formulated. Themes that reflected parents' perceptions of concerned care included: being treated as an individual, seeing familiar faces, feeling that their children really mattered, and conversely, experiencing a feeling of abandonment. Parents' perceptions of collaborative care included: being part of the team, and conversely, feeling caught in the middle. The theme cluster, concerned care, reflected the value parents place on continuity of care. Humanistic nursing theory provided the link between study results and nursing practice.

There is little informationfrom the perspective of parents living with a child who has undergone lung transplantation. A phenomenological approach integrating Schutz's postulatesfor the construction of social reality with Colaizzi's method of analysis was used to investigate the meaning of the experience. Fifteen parents of 12 children were interviewed. Theme clusters reflecting the meaning of the stages of the transplantation experience were formulated. Parents perceived lung transplantation as creating hope for the future, creating a context of uncertainty and an opportunity for normalcy, and promoting the development of a new perspective on life. Humanistic nursing practice theory provided the link between study results and nursing practice. Implicationsfor nursing practice were identified.