The meaning of the care of hospitalized children: experiences of nursing professionals

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: to understand the meaning of the care of hospitalized children for the nursing professionals of a pediatric unit. Method: phenomenological study, based on the existential phenomenology of Martin Heidegger. Ten nursing professionals were interviewed with the guiding question: “What is the care of hospitalized children for you? Tell me, in detail, your experience with taking care of hospitalized children.” Results: the meaning of the care of hospitalized children materializes between the profession and the various ways of preoccupation. By engaging in/worrying about the ways of being of everyday life, the professionals tend to improperness when trying to mediate and level all possibilities of being. However, when they extrapolate reassurance and do not get caught up in themselves, they achieve empathy, respect, and indulgence. Final Considerations: it is necessary to reassess the teaching and practice of care, so that authentic care is offered to children and their families in the context of hospitalization.