Parental mood when staying overnight at hospital with their sick child

• Parental mood when staying overnight at hospital with their sick childObjectiveto describe mood in parents, staying with their sick children overnight at the hospital.MethodologyA descriptive design, including 75 parents staying overnight at hospital with their sick child, was used. The parents filled out Mood-scale the morning after staying overnight at the hospital. The Mood-scale is a validated and reliable self-administered instrument measuring six dimensions of mood; control, calmness, social orientation, pleasantness, activation, and extraversion (Sjöberg L, 1979). The study is a part of a larger project, with focus on mood, stress and sleep in parents staying with their sick children overnight at the hospital.ResultsThe result will describe how parents report their total mood and how they report the different dimensions when they stay with their sick children overnight at the hospital. A comparison will be made between the parent´s mood and gender and the child´s age. Data is under analysis and will be presented as preliminary data. ConclusionAccording to UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child, children in hospital have the right to have their parents with them at all times and parents should be offered accommodation and be encouraged to stay. However, the hospital environment, in combination with having a sick child, might affect the parent´s mood, which in turn might affect the ability to handle the situation and the child´s care. Therefore it is of importance to study parental mood and find ways to help the families during their hospital stay.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)