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A Descriptive Study of the Extent to which Self‐perceived Needs of Parents are met in Paediatric Units in Iceland
Author(s) -
Bragadóttir Helga
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of caring sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1471-6712
pISSN - 0283-9318
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-6712.1999.tb00540.x
Subject(s) - information needs , perception , medicine , psychological intervention , needs assessment , family medicine , descriptive research , nursing , psychology , social science , neuroscience , sociology , world wide web , computer science , statistics , mathematics
The purpose of this study was to identify the extent to which parents of 2–12‐year‐old hospitalized children perceive their needs to be met in paediatric units, what variables influence parents' perception, and whether parents need help from the hospital to meet their needs. Parents perceived that most of their needs were met fully or to some extent. The need to be able to stay with the child 24 h a day was perceived as fully met by all parents. Needs perceived as important but poorly met were as follows: written information about the child's health status, information about financial assistance and follow‐up after discharge. Independent variables identified as being related to the extent to which individual needs were met were as follows: parents' age (p ≤ 0.05), distance between home and hospital (p ≤ 0.05), parents' education (p ≤ 0.05), length of hospital stay (p ≤ 0.01) and severity of child's illness (p ≤ 0.01). Most parents perceived that they needed help from the hospital to meet their needs. These findings call for identification of effective interventions to meet parents' needs.