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Caregivers’ experiences of interaction with families expecting a fetally impaired child
Author(s) -
Maijala Hanna,
Paavilainen Eija,
Väisänen Leena,
ÅstedtKurki Päivi
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of clinical nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1365-2702
pISSN - 0962-1067
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2702.2003.00869.x
Subject(s) - grounded theory , psychology , coping (psychology) , developmental psychology , interpretation (philosophy) , family caregivers , social relation , nursing , social psychology , qualitative research , medicine , clinical psychology , sociology , social science , computer science , programming language
Background. On the basis of earlier research, caregivers’ actions when interacting with clients should be developed. However, nursing research has focused little attention on the interaction between caregivers and families expecting a fetally impaired child. Aim. The study aimed at generating a practical family nursing theory of caregivers’ interaction with families expecting a malformed child. Methods. A grounded theory study was undertaken at Tampere University Hospital in Finland in 1999–2000. Data consisted of semi‐structured interviews with 22 ( n = 22) nurses and doctors. The data were analysed using the constant comparative method. Results. The interaction process starts when a caregiver informs the parents of the fetal impairment. The process is influenced by caregivers’ attitude towards issues related to the family's life situation. Caregivers’ views of their job, and of human coping and cultural attitudes towards these issues are also of importance. These factors account for their goals in the interaction, which, in turn, underlie their actions. When the caregiver's interpretation is that the family accepted the help provided, the outcome of the interaction is satisfaction with having been able to help. Correspondingly, in the case of an opposite interpretation, the caregiver experiences strain caused by inadequacy of the help he/she is providing. The core of interaction consists of two dimensions: gaining strength and losing strength in relation to impairment issues. Conclusions. Caregivers’ views of helpful interaction were consistent with earlier research on the subject, but the findings of this study showed that more attention should be focused on the family as a whole. Furthermore, caregivers rarely criticized their own actions, thus their interaction skills should be upgraded by focusing on systematic self‐assessment through training. Nursing research deepening our understanding of why interaction fails is warranted. Relevance to clinical practice. The study results can be used in the family nursing practice as tools in reinforcing the caregivers’ ability to helpful interaction with families expecting a fetally impaired child. The results may enhance caregivers’ systematic self‐evaluation and conscious use of the self.