En Selecia Gwee Lee, Poh Pei Fen, Sng Qian Wen, Hwee Shuen, Ng Jamie Qiao Xin, Shorey Shefaly
Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
Paediatrics Academic Clinical Programme, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
Eur J Pediatr. 2025 Mar 12;184(4):245. doi: 10.1007/s00431-025-06083-y.
To explore the experiences of mothers of children hospitalized in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and the factors influencing their involvement in Singapore.Convenience sampling was used to recruit mothers of children aged 0 to 18 years old hospitalized in a PICU for at least 48 h from a public tertiary hospital in Singapore from September to November 2023. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 mothers in person until data saturation was achieved. Thereafter, data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themes and thirteen subthemes were identified. The themes were: (1) Emotional roller-coaster, (2) Redefining mother's duties, (3) Collaborating with the healthcare team, (4) Barriers to Maternal Involvement. Conclusions: Mothers felt hopeless and anxious during their child's hospitalization but rarely showed outward signs of emotional distress. Mothers were motivated to be involved in caregiving activities by their desire to reclaim their maternal role. Mothers worked closely together with the healthcare providers. However, maternal involvement was limited by their fear of causing more harm, inconducive spaces, and balancing their sick child and other siblings at home. These findings provide a nuanced insight into maternal experiences and can help to inform enhanced family-centered care hospital policies. Triangulation of findings from PICU healthcare providers and other caregivers such as fathers and siblings is needed to holistically understand the support needs of such families. Practice implications: PICU healthcare providers need to pay greater attention to maternal emotional well-being. After more research on families with children in PICU, hospitals could seek to implement family-centred psychosocial support programs for parents and siblings.
探索新加坡儿科重症监护病房（PICU）中住院儿童母亲的经历以及影响她们参与度的因素。采用便利抽样的方法，从新加坡一家公立三级医院招募2023年9月至11月期间在PICU住院至少48小时的0至18岁儿童的母亲。对13位母亲进行了面对面的半结构式访谈，直至达到数据饱和。此后，使用主题分析法对数据进行分析。确定了四个主题和十三个子主题。主题分别为：（1）情绪过山车，（2）重新定义母亲的职责，（3）与医疗团队合作，（4）母亲参与的障碍。结论：母亲们在孩子住院期间感到绝望和焦虑，但很少表现出明显的情绪困扰迹象。母亲们因渴望重新获得母亲角色而积极参与护理活动。母亲们与医疗服务提供者密切合作。然而，母亲的参与受到她们对造成更多伤害的恐惧、不利的环境以及平衡家中生病的孩子和其他兄弟姐妹的限制。这些发现为母亲的经历提供了细致入微的见解，并有助于为强化以家庭为中心的医院政策提供参考。需要对PICU医疗服务提供者以及父亲和兄弟姐妹等其他照顾者的调查结果进行三角验证，以全面了解此类家庭的支持需求。实践意义：PICU医疗服务提供者需要更加关注母亲的情绪健康。在对PICU中有孩子的家庭进行更多研究之后，医院可以寻求为父母和兄弟姐妹实施以家庭为中心的心理社会支持项目。
