Parental role conflict: the nursing diagnosis in mothers of hospitalized newborns

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To verify if mothers of newborns hospitalized recognize the defining characteristics of "parental role conflict" as representative of that experience. METHODS: A cross-sectional and descriptive study, developed in a neonatal unit of a public teaching hospital in the state of São Paulo. The sample consisted of 100 women who assigned scores of 1 to 5 to the defining characteristics of the diagnosis, where 1 meant "not at all characteristic" and 5 meant "completely characteristic of what I am experiencing." RESULT: Of the total sample, 96 women self-identified with the diagnosis. The most prevalent defining characteristics were: "anxiety," "mother expresses concern(s) in relation to changes in maternal role"; "verbalizes feelings of frustration," "reports concern about family" and "fear". Women who were with their children less often during hospitalization had a higher number of defining characteristics. CONCLUSION: There was a high prevalence of the defining characteristics of the studied diagnosis, suggesting the relevance of the topic and the need for further studies to be developed in the neonatal unit.

Maternal care in the preterm child’s family context: A comprehensive look towards the sibling

“…It is up to nurses to seek the development of skills and knowledge that encompass interventions directed to such needs. They need to expand their clinic with a view to specific interventions, especially in the direction of the sufferings experienced by these women-mothers, especially those related to guilty feelings from moving away from one of the children and/ or not reaching the idealized care offer to both children (21) .…”