Rev. Soc. Bras. Enferm. Ped.2007;7(2):75-82.

ISSUE Cover

The maternal reaction regarding her son’s internment in the pitu: contributions to the nursing practice starting from the maternal history of life

DOI: 10.31508/1676-3793200700009

Abstract

It was developed a qualitative study applying the method of life history. The aim was to understand the mother’s perception of hospitalized children at Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The participants were 26 women whose children were hospitalized in the PICU at one Federal Hospital, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. The mothers’ life history evidenced that they went through a hard and conflictive experience. They showed characteristic phases like the struggle on cope with fatal disease, such as denial, angry, depression, and barter. They did not accept the fact that their children were at the PICU, they felt angry by facing with people’s sorry regarding children’s condition. They got depressed glancing their children hospitalized, and the need of sharing their time at the PICU and other mothers’ duties. They got her support from faith in God in order to resist the period that their children were hospitalized. They felt guilty for what happens to their children, deny their own needs to stay with them, however they felt exhausted. Although, all mothers were sure that those children will be discharged and return to home.