[Parents of a critically ill child - what do they expect from the team of the pediatric intensive care unit?]

Having an ill child that is being treated in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is tremendously stressful for the parents, both physically and emotionally. To help them cope with the circumstances they find themselves in, parents often develop expectations which are addressed to the team of the PICU, and which they find important to be fulfilled. Many of these expectations are culturally shaped. At present, there exist no data from German speaking area. Thus, this qualitative study was undertaken to fill this gap. Episodic interviews were conducted with five mothers and two fathers. Using the content analysis technique described by Mayring, one main category and six subcategories emerged from the data. "Concering about the sick child" was of particular importance for the parents. Their own expectations were reflected in the six subcategories: "Knowing that the child is receiving good care", "Being with the child", "Being involved", "Experiencing care for oneself and one's child", "Being informed" and "Experiencing continuity". These results are congruent with prior research reported in the international literature. Having a desire for a continuous medical support and the clear separation of roles between physicians and nurses are new findings from this investigation which have not been described previously.