Comforting measures described by staff working in paediatric units
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Comforting measures described by staff working in paediatric units

Charlotte Ångström-Brännström Assistant professor, Faculty of medicine, department of nursing, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
Astrid Norberg Professor emerita, Faculty of medicine, department of nursing, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden and Palliative Research Centre, Ersta Sköndal University College, Stockholm, Sweden
Aim

Children with cancer identify staff members, who work with them in paediatric units, as their most important comforters. This study aimed to shed light on how those staff members deliver this comfort.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were performed and the content then analysed. Nine families (n = 9) and eight staff members (n = 8) participated in the study.

Findings

The staff described caring for the children and the whole family. They implemented certain comforting measures with the child, and described how they provided support to parents. Staff described how they felt comforted by relating to the children they were caring for.

Conclusion

Staff working in paediatric units develop good relationships with children and parents and comfort them using methods described in the literature. The quality of the staff's positive relationships with the children marked all their actions.

Nursing Children and Young People. 29, 4, 24-30. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2017.e812

Correspondence

charlotte.angstrom@umu.se

Peer review

This article has been subject to open peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Conflict of interest

None declared

Received: 12 June 2016

Accepted: 15 December 2016

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