Reflections and Experiences of Parents During Hospitalization of Children and Support Provided by the Staff at the Paediatric Hospital of Tirana

Abstract

Hospitalization of children can create difficult and emotional psycho-social situations for children and their families.Hospitalization may be strongly or naturally experienced by children depending on what is the level of their preliminary preparation to the hospitalization process. The study aims to address the parents' experiences during hospitalization of children and medical and psycho-social services offered for children and their parents/guardians. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used for data collection. The study has included parents of hospitalised children and medical and psycho-social staff offering services for these children. Parents report that in general there is a lack of preparation procedures for the process of children hospitalization, while the staff is only focused on providing medical service. Most of the parents participating in this study have chosen not to inform their children about their disease and not to allow medical staff or even professionals of psycho-social service either to do such a thing. The psycho-social service is in its first steps and most of the parents are not aware of this service. Children and parents should be part of decisions related to the treatment and procedures the children will go through. The psycho-social service offers a greater support for the family, children and medical staff.