Support systems in the pediatric intensive therapy unit: family perspective

Abstract

Objective: to identify and to analyze the support systems used by family members for the adaptation process to the child’s hospitalization in the intensive care unit. Method: qualitative research, conducted in a hospital located in the Southern Brazil. Data were collected between June and July 2017, through semi-structured interviews with family members of hospitalized children. The adaptation model and thematic analysis were used for data processing. Results: four themes emerged: family and friends as a support system; the family members of other hospitalized children as a support system; spirituality as a support system; health team as a support system. Final considerations: identifying the support systems used in the process of family adaptation and their manifestations of interdependence was possible. The need of the nurses to intensify the listening to strengthen the support system of the family members of the children hospitalized in the unit studied.