An emotional journey when encountering children in prehospital care: Experiences from ambulance nurses

Abstract

BackgroundCare encounters with children are a challenging and important task, but opportunities for such encounters are rarely available. Therefore, ambulance nurses (ANs) face difficulties in gaining experience in properly handling children, which can lead to stress for the ANs. A deeper understanding of ANs’ emotions through the course of the care encounter is needed. AimTo describe how ambulance nurses’ feel and manage their emotions before, during and after a care encounter with a child. MethodsA qualitative approach was adopted, with content analysis being performed on seventeen individual interviews. FindingsThree themes were identified: Feeling worried and insecure, Emotional surge, and Mixed feelings of satisfaction and concern. ConclusionThe ANs experienced a range of emotions during a care encounter with children as they had little experience with it. More training and education in paediatric care could benefit ANs. The ANs use professionalism during care encounters to create a calm and secure atmosphere for families. Their will to bring about a safe journey for the child and family through the care encounter supersedes their nervousness. Reflection after a care encounter could strengthen their confidence in their professional role and reduce emotional distress in future encounters.