This conceptual analysis has allowed perceived parental efficacy to be distinguished from parental confidence and parental competence. Both nursing and psychology research, practice and education will benefit from a more precise and delineated concept.

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Aims and objectives To understand how parents experienced miscarriage in an emergency department setting. Objectives were to identify parents’ needs, isolate factors that influenced their experience, and provide recommendations to improve care from the perspective of women, their partners, nurses and nurse managers. Background Miscarriage is the most prevalent complication encountered during pregnancy. It subjects parents to a multitude of emotions and may have significant consequences on mental health. Emergency department visits are frequently the only opportunity for parents to receive formal support during a miscarriage; it is thus crucial to understand the experiences of parents in this setting. Design The study employed a descriptive, exploratory, qualitative approach with semi‐structured interviews. Methods The study was founded on the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Logic Model Development Guide (2004) and Meleis’ Transitions Theory (2015). A total of 26 participants were interviewed (17 parents, 7 emergency department nurses and 2 emergency department nurse managers). Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research was used to report results. Results Three categories of needs were identified: physical health, cognitive and emotional. For instance, parents expressed a need to receive more information during their visit to the emergency department (i.e., a cognitive need), whether about the diagnostic test results or how to ensure a better recovery. Parents also reported a desire for professionals to address their emotional concerns. Nurses were aware of the emotional impact of miscarriage but felt that they were not adequately trained in providing optimal care to parents in this situation. Conclusions Parents who visited the emergency department for miscarriage reported several unfulfilled needs that generated dissatisfaction with care. Emergency department organisational constraints hindered optimal nursing care practices. Relevance to clinical practice Nurses have an important role to play in improving parents’ experience. They can do so by understanding the needs of parents and by being involved in developing new guidelines.

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Children are considered competent social actors. Although they are able to express their opinions, they may have some difficulties in answering direct verbal questions, requiring researchers and health professionals to enter their world by using auxiliary resources for communication. This study presents the experience of using finger puppets as a playful strategy for improving interaction and communication with hospitalized children with cancer, aged seven to 12. It describes the strategy of making and using puppets as an auxiliary tool to communicate with children with cancer and presents the results and limitations of using puppets in clinical practice. The use of the puppets, creatively and in accordance with the children's motor, cognitive, and emotional development, showed benefits, such as allowing the children to freely express themselves; respecting their autonomy; and minimizing the hierarchical adult-child relationship. The use of puppets is an appropriate strategy to communicate with hospitalized children. This tool can also enrich clinical practice, as it encourages children with cancer to report their experience of being ill and also helps the health team during evaluation and intervention.

Research has demonstrated beneficial effects on children’s development of both breastfeeding and fathers’ involvement. Evidence has also shown that breastfeeding could influence paternal behaviors. Since there is little data available on paternal representations of breastfeeding and on its effects on paternal involvement, the aim of the present study is to bridge that gap by examining fathers’ perceptions of their relationship with their infant in the context of breastfeeding. Semistructured interviews were carried out with 43 fathers of an infant who had been exclusively breast-fed for a minimum of 6 months. These were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The fathers identified some impacts of breastfeeding on the father–infant relationship. Feeding their infant themselves appeared to be a determining moment in this relationship. These results highlight the relevance of supporting early father–infant bonding in the breastfeeding context.

Factors associated with the grief after stillbirth: a comparative study between Brazilian and Canadian women * Extracted from the thesis "Luto por óbito fetal: estudo comparativo entre mulheres brasileiras e canadenses", Programa ABSTRACT Objective:To verify the association between complicated grief and sociodemographic, reproductive, mental, marital satisfaction, and professional support characteristics in women after stillbirth. Method: Cross-sectional study with 26 women who had stillbirth in 2013, living in the city of Maringá, Brazil, and eight women who attended the Centre d'Études et de Recherche en Intervention Familiale at the University of Quebec en Outaouais, in Canada. The instrument was administered as an interview to a small number of mothers of infants up to three months (n=50), who did not participate in the validation study. Results: By applying the short version of the Perinatal Grief Scale, the prevalence of complicated grief in Brazilian women was found to be higher (35%) in relation to Canadian women (12%). Characteristics of the Brazilian women associated with the grief period included the presence of previous pregnancy with live birth, absence of previous perinatal loss, postpartum depression, and lack of marital satisfaction. For the Canadians it was observed that 80% of the women presenting no grief made use of the professional support group. In both populations the occurrence of complicated grief presented a higher prevalence in women with duration of pregnancy higher than 28 weeks. Conclusion: The women that must be further investigated during the grief period are those living in Brazil, making no use of a professional support group, presenting little to no marital satisfaction, having no religion, and of a low educational level.

The transition to fatherhood is a period in an individual's life that calls upon his/her adaptive capacities. The quality of social support available to parents is an important factor in their adjustment to their new role. The purpose of this correlative study among 160 first-time fathers and 160 first-time mothers in Quebec, Canada was to determine which sources of support are most valued by mothers and fathers during the post-partum period, the characteristics of this support and to examine the nature of the relationships between perceptions of social support, parenting efficacy and parental anxiety. Multivariate analyses revealed that, for these parents, social support did not act as a protective factor for perceived parenting efficacy. However, nurses' care-giving practices contributed to parents' perceptions of support and to their perceptions of parenting efficacy.