ABSTRACT
Divorced parents face distinct challenges in providing care for chronically ill children. Children's residence in two households necessitates the development of family-specific strategies to ensure coparents' supervision of regimen adherence and the management of children's health care. Utilizing a risk and resilience perspective, a grounded theory study was conducted with 14 divorced parents of children with chronic illnesses. The importance of trust, gender, and relationships with third-party care providers emerged as key themes related to the development of effective coparenting relationships for maintaining children's health. Divorced parents were best able to support the management of their children's chronic conditions when care providers operated as neutral third parties and intermediaries. Collaborative family care may require health care practitioners to avoid being drawn into contentious inter-parental conflicts.
Subject(s)
Chronic Disease/nursing , Chronic Disease/psychology , Disabled Children/psychology , Divorce/psychology , Parenting/psychology , Parents/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Grounded Theory , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
The purpose of this investigation is to examine differences in the experiences of mothers of children with cystic fibrosis who are in diverse family structures (first-marriage families, stepfamily households, single-parent households). In particular, mothers' perceptions of children's health, adherence to prescribed treatments, and help received from others were compared and predictors of treatment adherence were examined. Children's health and adherence to treatment regimens were not related to family structure. Mothers had the major responsibility for seeing that cystic fibrosis treatments were followed, regardless of family structure. Single mothers received less help than married and repartnered mothers. Married fathers helped with treatments more than nonresidential divorced fathers and stepfathers. Implications for nursing practice and suggestions for future research are offered.
Subject(s)
Attitude to Health , Cystic Fibrosis/prevention & control , Family Characteristics , Gender Identity , Home Nursing/psychology , Mothers/psychology , Adult , Analysis of Variance , Chi-Square Distribution , Child , Child Welfare , Divorce/psychology , Fathers/education , Fathers/psychology , Female , Home Nursing/methods , Humans , Male , Marriage/psychology , Mothers/education , Nursing Methodology Research , Regression Analysis , Self Care/methods , Self Care/psychology , Single Parent/psychology , Socioeconomic Factors , Surveys and Questionnaires , United StatesABSTRACT
This study explored the experiences of mothers of children with cystic fibrosis (CF) in postdivorce family structures. In-depth interviews of mothers were conducted by registered nurses with expertise in CF. Interviews focused on responsibility for care of the CF child within the context of postdivorce families (e.g., extent of nonresidential fathers' involvement in children's care, communication between households). Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. The constant comparison method was used for analyzing interview data. Marital transitions contributed to the closeness between mothers and children with CF, but they also added to the mothers' sense of being overwhelmed with responsibilities. It is likely that children and mothers are more at risk for stress-related problems when mothers are overburdened by the demands of caregiving, earning a living, and other responsibilities.
Subject(s)
Child Care , Cystic Fibrosis , Divorce , Mothers , Adult , Caregivers/psychology , Child , Fathers , Female , Humans , Mother-Child Relations , Mothers/psychologyABSTRACT
An investigator-designed survey was used to determine if attendance at specific continuing education programs increased the perceived competence of school nurses who enrolled and completed the programs. Respondents were queried about the general content of six courses offered by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services in conjunction with the University of Missouri-Columbia Sinclair School of Nursing. Specific content areas were mental health concerns, suicide prevention, diabetes management, asthma management, seizure disorders, and developing clinical skills as they pertained to school-age children. Comparing a sample of school nurses who had attended the programs with a group whom had not, a statistically significant difference was found in the participant group who reported higher self-perceived competence than the nonparticipant group in all content areas. Results of the study suggest that school nurses who attend specific continuing education programs feel more competent in practice than nurses who do not attend.
