Children's perceptions of nurses and nursing care : A descriptive literature review
Gyasi-Mensah, Albert; Sarfo, Kwadwo; Igong, Ebenezer (2019)
Gyasi-Mensah, Albert
Sarfo, Kwadwo
Igong, Ebenezer
2019
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019110720798
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019110720798
Tiivistelmä
Hospitalization can be a very stressful and traumatic experience for children. Children have a limited understanding of procedures and hospital environment. Thus, it is even more important for health care professionals to recognize the characteristics of pediatric nursing and the unique expectations of child patients. The purpose of this thesis was to describe children’s perception of nurses and nursing care. The aim was to eventually improve the quality of care and to encourage pediatric nurses to involve children more in their own care. The method selected to conduct this thesis was a narrative literature review. It was conducted in order to provide a current and broad perspective on the topic. An electronic database search was performed in the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL and SAGE, using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data analysis was qualitative, and it was carried out by using thematic analysis. The codes answering the research questions were recorded, organized and lastly, through their similarities, themes were identified. Two main themes were identified as a result of the analysis: ‘support and treatment’ and ‘establishing a therapeutic relationship’. The category ‘support and treatment’ was further divided into four subcategories: ‘safety’, ‘physical support’, ‘emotional support’ and ‘psychological support’. The category ‘establishing a therapeutic relationship’ was further divided into two subcategories: ‘interpersonal relationship’ and ’communication’. In conclusion, we discovered that children want to be involved in their care and are willing to express their opinions and conceptions of nurses. Children expected certain interpersonal qualities, caring, professional expertise from nurses as well as appropriate and adequate communication with them. Because child centered care is still a relatively new approach, further research from the perspective of children will be needed.