The routine of a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit
Section: TEACHING TO LEARN
Authors
1Purificación González Villanueva, 2Elisa Agudo Gisbert, 3Virginia Ferrer Cerveró
Position
1Doctora en Enfermería por la Universidad de Alicante. Profesora titular en la Universidad Europea de Madrid.2Doctora en Farmacia. Diplomada en Metodología de investigación. Profesora titular en la Universidad Europea de Madrid.3Doctora en Pedagogía. Universidad de Barcelona.
Contact address
Universidad Europea de Madrid. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Departamento de Enfermería. C/ Tajo, s/n. Villaviciosa de Odón. 28670 Madrid.
Contact email: purificacion.gonzalez@uem.es
Abstract
This study was conducted on children aged 6 to 12 years in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The purpose was to describe their experiences and knowledge and to use the interpretation to get to know what it means for them to be in a PICU. The methodology used was a multiple case study with an ethnographic approach.
The most striking result of this study is the emergence of the biomedical model, related to the physical and emotional suffering of children.
Some findings show that there is a hierarchical doctor-patient relationship in which children and parents are treated as passive persons without capacity to participate in their care and with little chance for interaction with professionals. They rarely receive explicit information, according to their age, on what is wrong with them, what they are going to do to them, the different activities and situations in the ICU that are directly related to them, when can they participate and above all, to understand its meaning in relation to their health.
Keywords:
children; coping; experience; fears; hospitalization; intensive care; needspsychological problems
Versión en Español
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