Abstract:

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of nurse-parental support on parents’ stress levels of hospitalized children in pediatric clinics. Method: This study is descriptive, correlational and cross-sectional design. The Ethics committee and institution permission was obtained. The sample of the study consisted of parents between March 2018 - March 2019 in pediatric clinics of a university hospital, had hospitalized children for more than 3 days with acute or chronic illness and informed written consent obtained (n = 178). Socio-demographic data collection form, Nurse-Parent Support Scale and Parent Stress Scale Short Form were used to collect the research data. The author permission to use the scales was obtained. Results: The mean age of the hospitalized children of the was 6.2 ± 5.3 and 61.8% were male and 69.7% were followed for an acute illness. The mean age of the parents was 34.1 ± 7.3 and 83.7% were mothers. The mean score of the Parents' Nurse-Parental Support Scale was 80.8 ± 17.4 and the mean score of the Parents Stress Scale was 80.0 ± 23.7. A negatively weak level of relationship between parents' stress levels and nurse-parental support levels, a negative weak correlation between stress levels and information and communication sub-dimension of the nurse-parental support scale, "emotional support" subscale, "respecting" subscale and "quality of care provided to the child" subscale a very weak negative correlation was found. Conclusion: It was observed that the support levels of the parents were high and the stress levels were moderate. It was found that the level of stress increased as the nurse-parent support decreased. It is thought that the support provided by pediatric nurses to the parents will reduce the stress of the parents and affect the parent-child interaction positively. It is recommended to plan research to improve supportive nursing care and to raise awareness of pediatric nurses.

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