Reestablishing the parental role in a pediatric intensive care unit.

Abstract

Abstract When a child is admitted to an Intensive Care Unit, parents are forced to abdicate their roles as primary caregivers and to adopt the new roles of parents to an acutely ill child. The changes that they are expected to adjust to are immense. An understanding of role theory and the development of the parental role increases the nurse's ability to understand the parents they work with and the rationale behing interventions. By fostering the parent's sense of trust, providing important and relevant information, normalizing the child to parents, and facilitating role identification, the nurse can help parents to become reinvolved in their child's care, assume a sense of responsibility, and regain a sense of control in their child's life. Reestablishing the parental role enables parents to cope with the crisis of their child's hospitalization in a healthy manner.