Elsevier

Journal of Pediatric Health Care

Volume 24, Issue 2, March–April 2010, Pages 95-102
Journal of Pediatric Health Care

Article
The Voices of Children: Stories About Hospitalization

Presented at the 18th International Nursing Research Conference, Sigma Theta Tau International, Vienna, Austria, July 2007.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2009.02.008Get rights and content

Abstract

Introduction

The study explored children's views of hospitalization through their own voices.

Method

In this secondary analysis, 93 children aged 5 to 9 years told stories about hospitalization using a set of drawings of children in the hospital. Children were recruited in the hospital and in the community. Themes were identified through qualitative analysis.

Results

Children's stories focused on being alone and feeling scared, mad, and sad. These children wanted protection. Children in the stories were not always facing scary events. They were simply not at home and feeling bored, lonely, and sad. They wanted companions. Children displayed awareness of both good and bad outcomes. The hospital was a unique environment that could be fun as well as threatening.

Discussion

Children's views of hospitalization were not invariably negative. The themes of hospitalized and never-hospitalized children were different only in degree of detail.

Section snippets

Hospitalization as a Stressor

The hospitalization experience has changed considerably during the past 20 years as hospital staff and administrators have made many attempts to improve hospital environments for children. These improvements include lifting restrictions on visitors and visiting hours, providing space for children to play and parents to room-in with their hospitalized child, as well as making Child Life staff available on inpatient units and in outpatient/diagnostic departments. Today, children's units in

Design

This study is a qualitative descriptive (Sandelowski, 2000) secondary analysis of the stories told by 93 children in response to BHPT pictures during an instrumentation study (Wilson et al., 2007). Qualitative description involves the presentation of recurring “facts” in the data at a low level of abstraction. However, all analysis involves some interpretation (Sandelowski). In secondary analysis, data generated for one set of questions are used to answer other questions (Coyer & Gallo, 2005).

Results

The primary theme identified in this analysis was being alone. When children were alone, they were uncertain about what would happen to them; they were afraid of known scary things; and they were not at home. Uncertainty and known scary things led to feelings of being scared, mad, and sad. Children wanted protection. Children reacted to not being at home by feeling bored, lonely, and sad. They wanted companions. Additional less extensive themes included being aware of the possibility for good

Discussion

Children's stories reflected fear of being alone in the hospital, fear of known experiences, and feeling threatened by uncertain possibilities. These fears have long been expressed by hospitalized children in this age group. Children respond to these fears by requesting to have parents nearby, having familiar objects with them in the hospital, or asking to go home (Coyne, 2006, Forsner et al., 2005, Runeson et al., 2002). In addition to parents, children expect nurses to provide care and

Margaret E. Wilson, Associate Professor, College of Nursing, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE.

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  • Cited by (0)

    Margaret E. Wilson, Associate Professor, College of Nursing, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE.

    Mary E. Megel, Associate Professor, College of Nursing, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE.

    Laura Enenbach, Assistant Professor, Clarkson College, Omaha, NE.

    Kimberly L. Carlson, Clinical Instructor, Creighton University School of Nursing, Omaha, NE.

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