Parents Call for Concerned and Collaborative Care

Abstract

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.

Within the web: the family–practitioner relationship in the context of chronic childhood illness

“…In most cases the perspective reflected was that of the parents (Gallo & Knafl, 1998;Gravelle, 1997;Hentinen & Kyngas, 1998;Jerrett & Costello, 1996;S. Katz, 2002;Kirk, 2001;Kirschbaum & Knafl, 1996;Stubberfield & Murray, 1999), with the mother's voice predominating (Gibson, 1995;O'Neil, Palisano, & Westcott, 2001;Swallow & Jacoby, 2001;Van Riper, 1999;Wuest, 2000). Some studies focused on individual parental perspective's (S. Katz & Krulik, 1999;Knafl & Zoeller, 2000).…”

“…In a phenomenological study examining parents' perceptions and expectations of health care providers during the lung transplant experience, Stubberfield and Murray (1999) suggest two types of care, which meet families' expectations of health care providers, "concerned care"(p.362) and "collaborative care" (p.365). Health care providers, who reflect "concerned care" treat each family as a unique group, become a familiar face and demonstrate that the child really matters.…”

“…Although careful to separate the notions of relationship and care, Robinson (1996), like Stubberfield and Murray (1999), identifies a number of characteristics of effective nursing relationships with families. Using family accounts of therapeutic relationships, she identifies four relational stances that a nurse can take as a way of developing effective healing relationships with families.…”

“…In many of the studies and reviews the focus on specific aspects of the relationship remains. (Paterson & Zderad, 1988;Robinson, 1996;Stubberfield & Murray, 1999;Watson, 1988) Candib has chosen to use the word care, as a way of distinguishing the relationship from the positivist view. The term's relationship and care are used interchangeably.…”

“…The notion of caring for the child is often described as central to the relationship between families and practitioners (Benner & Wrubel, 1989;Candib, 1995;Shelton & Stepanek, 1995;Stubberfield & Murray, 1999). Heidegger's notion of care prompts me to consider the interconnected nature of how 'being-in' and 'being-with' influences how the participants show 'concern for' or 'care for' each other.…”