The Effects of Children Hospital Admission to Parents

Hospitals and other institutions for social and health care are crucial pillars of the welfare of the society. When a child falls ill, the first stop is a pediatric unit to seek treatment. However, while many people go to hospital and then back home, some are admitted to the hospital depending on their sickness. A large number of patients do not understand the severity of their illness, especially if the patients are children, and therefore, being admitted comes as a surprise to them (Marcias.et.al, 2015). Hence, the point of a person’s admission to a hospital is the hardest part of the healthcare process.

For admitted patients, especially children and their parents, the quality of engagement during the admission process become the determinant of their perception of the process (Baker et al., 2015). This paper focuses on a critical analysis of a report about a research conducted in a hospital in Madrid aimed at evaluating the impact that admission process has on parents and their children, as well as the nurses’ contribution to the process.

Article Critic

Title

The title gives a broad overview of the topic of the article and the answer it seeks to find. However, the title of the article is not comprehensive enough because the target group is not represented in the title. That is, one does not understand if the impact of admission is analyzed at a society level or an individual level. The title leaves that aspect open, making it hard to capture the actual phenomenon being investigated. Besides,, the title does not bring out whether this impact is emotional or physical. Additionally, the title does not reveal where exactly the research was conducted which makes it hard to tie the research to a specific community. If a specific group of study is known, then one can study their differences with other communities, which can reveal if there is a particular quality that is making them more affected by the situation.

Abstract

The abstract introduces the main features of the report showing the findings of the research from both the patients, parents of the children, and the nurses. However, an overview of the research proves that it is not explained in the abstract. Therefore, it is not clear in the abstract how those findings were accomplished. The survey was conducted with two focus groups, though it is not clear whether they conducted a focus group discussion or interviews were done with each respondent.

Introduction

Admission care is well addressed in a way that is easy to understand, but it is actual effect on the patients is not clear. The question here is whether the process of admission care affects the patient’s perception of the quality of health care or it affects the emotional aspects of the patients. It makes one wonder if the interests of the research are institutional based or depend on an individual’s perception about a hospital.

Literature Review

Most of the literature is about the experience of child patients and their parents rather than all types of patients. The reason for a person’s admission to a hospital could determine their experience. That is, an patient who experienced an accident may have a very different experience from a person admitted with a common illness because people with lower expectations of being admitted to a hospital are more likely to have a bad experience (Zaoutis, 2007). Therefore, most literature is on internal factors within a pediatric unit and little is mentioned of external factors on the issue. Patient’s satisfaction has been the primary gauging factor in the literature making the professional opinion of the doctors less important in the situation. The literature review forms a profound background for further study on hospital admission for both children and adult patients because the books have addressed most of the common aspects of the issue such as the relationship between quality health care and patient satisfaction.

Research Questions

The research questions are not stated in the report. There are no clear cause-and-effect questions about the issue under investigation, and one can only know the variables of the research by going through the whole report. Justification for this omission has not been made. The research was done much to understand the experience of children and their parents during admission and, therefore, they were not concerned with investigating any factors in the study, and that is why there are no research questions.

Research Method and Design

The method used in research is clearly defined just as the process of identifying the participants of the research. A descriptive approach to gathering the information is used in the form of the focus group discussions. The data collection model of focus group discussions is very appropriate for qualitative information. The notes were taken, and recorded tapes captured all the relevant information. Transcribing and categorizing the opinions of the participants makes it easier to see the results of the study. The research tradition used here is the face-to-face focus group and it is consistent with the methods used to collect data because it is used for qualitative research and data collection methods like recording tapes that are appropriate for qualitative data.
Sample and Setting

The aspect of sample selection and the settings of the research process are comprehensively covered, and the situation in the hospital is clearly explained. The distribution of the focus groups was appropriate and the sample size was sufficient. Besides, the idea of selecting nurses who did not know each other for professional focus groups was critical in ensuring richness of the information gathered. That is, nurses that do not know each other express opinions that are genuine and authentic. The two focus groups and one professional focus group were sufficient samples for the study and the purposeful sampling conducted during the research, which ensured that there was enough diversity to support saturation of the information gathered.

Data Collection

The research has only utilized one method of data collection which is focus group discussion. Focus group discussion is a very useful method of data collection but it does not capture all the aspects of a research question. That is, it cannot be used for quantitative data collection. The report did not consider quantitative data for a fraction of extreme patient experiences of admission care. Additional data is needed here to expand the finding of this research in a way that can be used to make decisions in similar situations elsewhere.

Procedures

The data collection methods used are adequately described, and their administration is done properly. The way a pilot focus group was conducted with some parents is an excellent test tool to make sure that participants understand their requirements in the research. Moreover, the question clarification prior to actual focus group discussions has allowed the researchers to gather necessary information for the research. The idea of selecting nurses who do not know each other for the survey is important in ensuring that they are not interrupted thereby giving the wrong information. The data collection team was adequately trained during the pilot focus group which allowed them to make necessary changes. The parents who participated in the study signed a written informed consent form to show that they were not forced, and their rights were protected.

Enhancement of Rigor

The whole process including selecting the right sample, planning the focus groups and conducting the research is clearly explained. Data collection is done through note taking and audio tapes of the focus groups, therefore, it is easy to audit them.

Results and Data Analysis

Reassessment of the data has been an essential in ensuring the credibility of the data as well as the results obtained from the same data. The style of coding the relevant data is appropriate for qualitative data as was used in the report. The four areas targeted by the focus groups regarding the parent’s experience and perception of admission care have covered the qualitative aspect of the research. The whole process of coding the recorded date is clearly described in the data analysis section. The research tradition is consistent with the methods used to collect data because it is used for qualitative research and data collection methods like recording tapes appropriate for qualitative data. The results have shown that there is a relation between the reason for a child’s admission and the amount of parent tension and therefore, shows a thematic pattern in that parents, taking children to ICU have a bad experience compared to those taking their children for a normal admission. The bias of the research is on professional experience during the admission. The research did not focus on the part doctors play in the process.

Findings

Many parents were concerned about the changes of the nurses, which confused them on the person to address. This shows an actual concern of parents across the world whenever they visit any pediatric unit, and, therefore, the findings prove to very reliable and a good representation of the data gathered. The themes from professional focus and the parent focus included a continuous process of caring and perception of performance of the professionals, which from the parents’ side clearly explored the results of the collected data. Qualitative research experts sufficiently participated in analyzing the preliminary data which supported efficient data analysis. All the four themes from parent’s focus groups and the two from professional focus groups have captured all the essential aspects of experiences during a child’s admission to a pediatric unit. Therefore, the results of the study show a clear picture of what transpires during the child admission process

Theoretical Integration

The theory of human caring is highlighted in the expression of satisfaction of the parents with professional performance of health workers. Most of the findings have been tied to a particular theoretical background in the world of nursing. . The themes express the actual feelings of both parents and the nurses at the time of hospital admission. They give an all rounded set of feelings covering the whole experience of the moment. There were very few tables and no graphs to demonstrate the situation and, therefore, the conceptualization of the findings is not straightforward.

Discussions

Various factors that have come up during the research process display common fears that parents have whenever they take their children to the hospital. For example, parents’ requesting constant notification of the condition of their children is a fear of any parent and therefore, the finding of the research can be clearly projected to the real world situations. These are daily experiences of mothers across the world, and the research has tried to reveal in-depth emotions of the parents. Therefore, it is a research within the social context of a hospital. Prior studies have exploited the perception of people regarding the quality of healthcare based on how they are treated and the research has narrowed down the study to small children and during admission. The findings of the study show that proper communication between the parents and doctors is very important in the situation, this is important to parents across the globe and, therefore, the findings are transferable to other situations.

Implications

The implication of the study is that for a good admission care should be included in the caring process of children through effective communication because it creates a profound background for relevant improvements in healthcare. Therefore, in the eyes of all mothers across the globe, the findings make absolute sense. The researchers argued that there was need for training on communication to all health practitioners so that in future the process of admission can be associated with effective communication. Besides, the need for a multidisciplinary protocol in the process explains the implications of the study.

Global Issue

The following procedure can be duplicated in any other research in future because all the essential aspects are addressed. The focus of any research is to examine a set of variables and make a conclusive argument based on the findings which is the case seen here. The report was well crafted, and all the relevant steps of conducting a qualitative research were well detailed in the study and the findings were consistent with the research method used. However, the interpretation of the findings was not critically detailed by graphs and charts making it hard to capture the information

Summary Assessment

In the nursing world, policies like continuous training of nurses on issues of effective communication are based on research like this one. The report provides a concrete justification for the findings, and the issues that came up during the study can be confirmed with testimonies from other parts of the world. The results follow a systematic study process and, since the process is well known and trustworthy, the findings can be trusted and used to make decisions in similar situations elsewhere. All the findings can be verified in research done elsewhere regarding child healthcare.

Conclusion

People fall ill often, and spending days in a hospital is not a desirable outcome, especially for children. They cannot explain their symptoms and, therefore, those who happen to be admitted receive subpar care during their recovery process. Therefore, such research is imperative for the future advancements in health care. The research conducted was very successful, and the research methodology and result analysis gave sufficient findings. However, several aspects of the study were overlooked which included the literature review, which was not comprehensive enough. For example, little has been mentioned regarding the experience of caregivers during the admission. The study suggests there should be an upgrade in the practice of pediatric admission especially during parent-doctor communication, which is a very positive outcome which can be applied to any health care institution.

Related Free Nursing Essays