Researchware

"Having a Child Diagnosed With Cancer: An Assessment of Values From the Mother's Viewpoint" by Peggy Ward-Smith, PhD, RN, (School of Nursing at University of Missouri - Kansas City), Sarah Kirk, PhD (Children's Mercy Hospitals & Clinics, Kansas City), Maxine Hetherington, MD (Children's Mercy Hospitals & Clinics, Kansas City), and Christopher L. Hubble, MD (Advanced Pediatric Palliative Care Team Children's Mercy Hospitals & Clinics, Kansas City) appears in the Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, Vol. 22, No. 6, 320-327 (2005). The qualitative analytical power of HyperRESEARCH was used to explore this powerful topic.

"The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the mother's experience of having a child diagnosed with cancer. Semistructured interview questions, focused specifically on values, provided the foundation for the study. Each of the 9 participants was a mother of a child diagnosed with cancer 30 days prior to participation. Subsequent data were collected from each participant 6 months after the original interview. Using a phenomenological approach for data collection and analyses, themes were uncovered from each interview data set. The initial interviews identified 3 themes: (1) problems accessing the health care system, (2) challenges of family dynamics, and (3) support structures. Each theme persisted in the second interview, with an additional theme, (4) future plans, uncovered. Data from this study may provide guidance for health care professionals who provide care to these children and their families. The importance of maintaining communication and keeping promises cannot be overstated."

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