“Hi Mommy”: Parental Preferences of Greetings by Medical Staff

Abstract

The therapeutic alliance between pediatricians and parents begins at the initial encounter. The manner in which pediatricians greet family members influences this relationship. This study evaluated whether parents are addressed using generic titles and investigated perceptions of parents regarding how they are addressed by medical staff. Written surveys of 137 parents of pediatric inpatients collected opinions about greetings during medical encounters. Parents were asked if they have been addressed as Mom/Dad/Mommy/Daddy during past medical encounters and which generic titles they would prefer. Using a Likert-type scale, the parents' perceptions of various salutations were assessed and compared. In this sample, 86% of parents were previously called Mom/Dad/Mommy/Daddy. Parents preferred to be addressed as Mom or Dad over other generic titles. Many disliked being addressed as Mommy/Daddy, Ma'am/Sir, or without a name, suggesting that providers should avoid the use of these salutations.

Should We Call You Mom and Dad? Caregiver Preferences and Pediatric Physician and Nurse Manner in Greetings

“…Our conclusions are different from those of previous studies, in which it was concluded that pediatric care teams should use parents' names whenever possible. 7,9 We found that approximately half of parents preferred that inpatient physicians call them Mom and Dad, and approximately half preferred to be called by name. Our finding that many parents prefer to be called Mom and Dad by inpatient pediatric physicians contrasts with findings in the adult literature that the majority of adult patients prefer to be called by their first names.…”

“…Whereas the authors of 2 previous studies 7,9 surveyed caregivers about pediatric greetings and generic titles, we are the first to elicit caregivers' most preferred form of address, directly comparing preferences for use of Mom and Dad versus one' s name. Our conclusions are different from those of previous studies, in which it was concluded that pediatric care teams should use parents' names whenever possible.…”

Appellation Preferences of Parents of Children Attending Hospital

“…There is little literature against which we can compare our results, though our findings are in line with a similar study published in the United States in 2018. 12 These results suggest that the preference adult patients have for informal over formal address 11 extends into parents accompanying their children to seek care.…”

“…16 Our sample contained fewer fathers than mothers, which reflects normal findings in pediatric health care settings. 8,9,12 Nevertheless, we were still able to elicit views from 78 fathers, which represents a larger group compared with published literature. 12 In giving their opinion of different appellations, fathers chose a neutral response significantly more than mothers, indicating that mothers hold more importance to the appellation used to address them.…”

“…One US study has showed that, when being greeted, most fathers preferred the title “Dad” (69.8%) and most mothers preferred the title “Mom” (79.8%). 12 However, a recent report suggested there may be controversies and disapproval at being called “Mum” by a doctor, arguing that health care professionals should ask parents how they preferred to be addressed in order to empower them to be part of the clinical decision-making team. 13 We aimed to explore the opinion of parents of children attending our tertiary referral hospital with regard to their preference of appellation by health care professionals, appellations used commonly by health care professionals to address parents, and whether undesirable appellation had an impact on parent perception of involvement in the care of their child.…”