Hall Elisabeth O C
Department of Nursing Science, University of Aarhus, Hoegh Guldbergsgade 6A, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2004 Feb;20(1):14-21. doi: 10.1016/j.iccn.2003.10.005.
This paper addresses grandfathers' lived experiences when a new-born or small grandchild is critically ill. Grandfathers are marginal in nursing research in spite of the fact that intensive care nursing has broadened its perspective from being patient-centred to include family-oriented care. A convenience sample of seven grandfathers was interviewed once. Using Van Manen's phenomenological methodology, the essence of the phenomenon was found to be "a double concern". Main themes in this essential theme were: "Being a father and a grandfather" and "being in the midst of life and death". Six sub-themes expanded and clarified the meaning of these themes. Overall the grandfathers experienced worry and loving concern for parents and grandchildren. In life-threatening situations grandfathers were scared and felt helpless; they were prepared to console and comfort; they always hoped for the best; and they felt like being in the inner circle if the health personnel included them when informing about the infant. Information and presence generally were of importance for the wellbeing of grandfathers. The findings constitute a systematic and thematic description of Danish grandfathers' experiences and therefore add to a family-oriented body of knowledge for intensive care nursing.
