Parents’ experiences during and after their child's stay in the paediatric intensive care unit – A qualitative interview study

Background: Having a child admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is often an emotional and stressful experience for parents. Aim: The aim of the study was to explore parents’ experiences during and after their child's hospitalization in the PICU and to investigate whether parents have a need for post-PICU follow-up. Material and methods: The research design was a qualitative study inspired by Ricoeur's phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. The context of the study was a six-bed PICU in a university hospital in Denmark. In 2017, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four couples and three mothers six to 14 weeks after their child had been discharged from the PICU. The data were analysed and interpreted through Ricoeur's three analytical levels and presented in themes and subthemes. Findings: Three themes were identified in the analytical process: “The challenging PICU stay”, “The value of a network” and “The uncertain post-PICU trajectory”. Conclusion: Information, dialogue and interaction with familiar health professionals, the diary written by PICU nurses, the parents’ personal network and social media supported the parents during and after the PICU stay. The parents expressed that post-PICU follow-up was not the most essential but that follow-up initiatives may be arranged individually.