"They don't leave you on your own:" a qualitative study of the home care of chronically ill children.

Learning to cope with a chronic illness is a process often demanding professional help that extends beyond the time spent in the hospital. Using interviews, this qualitative study describes the subjective experiences of five families with children who are chronically ill and the experiences of the two head nurses at External Care Services (EPD) in Berlin, Germany, an institution focused exclusively on home care for children. The positive experiences expressed by parents reflect the patient-oriented understanding of caring developed by the EPD, which strives for the qualified instruction of families and the building of caring relationships. As a result of the care offered by the EPD, many children are spared the repeated hospitalizations that so hinder the normalization of family life and impede family health.