Fathers' Behavior During Their Child's Ambulatory Surgery

Abstract

This study is a secondary analysis of data previously collected to examine the effects of preoperative parental teaching in ambulatory pediatric surgery. The authors used a descriptive comparative design to re-examine and differentiate mothers' and fathers' behaviors during their child's ambulatory surgery experience. Parental behaviors of 142 families during the hour following their child's return from surgery were captured on videotape and scored by two nurses using the Parental Behaviors Inventory. The final sample was comprised of 78 fathers and 131 mothers. Fathers and mothers demonstrated similar types of behaviors, mostly behaviors such as showing affection and giving some physical care. Fathers were less present at the bedside than mothers and demonstrated quantifiably less helping behaviors than mothers. The results of this analysis illustrated that fathers demonstrate helping behaviors at the hospital and that these behaviors can be encouraged and supported by hospital staff. Additional research is needed with larger samples and with different ethnicities that investigates fathers' roles in this and other healthcare settings and that will lead to programs aimed at building fathers' competencies in their child's health care.

The effect of an educational pre‐operative DVD on parents’ and children's outcomes after a same‐day surgery: a randomized controlled trial

“…The ICP established a significant difference between fathers and mothers regarding the frequency of demonstrated behaviours in a DCS unit ( t = 2·895, P = 0·004) (Tourigny , Tourigny et al . ). In a subsequent study, where parents’ behaviours were evaluated in a DCS unit, the ICP's correlation total‐category ranged from 0·56 to 0·84, P = 0·01 (Tourigny et al .…”

Protecting, providing, and participating: fathers' roles during their child's unplanned hospital stay, an ethnographic study

“…Whilst research concerning fathers has increased, Isacco and Garfield (2010) claim that healthcare research with fathers has focused on severe and atypical situations. Mothers' and fathers' experiences have been compared in relation to long-term illness (for example Hobson & Noyes 2011) and planned surgery (Tourigny et al 2004), but little research has addressed fathers in short stay acute inpatient care. Yet in England, 7% of children experience an inpatient stay annually, the majority unplanned (Shribman 2007), with increasing rates of emergency admissions and decreasing lengths of stay (Department of Health 2009).…”