Relationship between Mothers’ Concerns and Mothers’ Needs of Children: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Hospitalization of children is one of the main causes of anxiety and concern for families. Mothers of sick children need emotional support to provide effective care and adequate support for their children.
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between mothers’ concerns and mothers’ needs of hospitalized children.
Materials and Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 150 mothers of children admitted to the Pediatric Ward of Baqiyatallah Al-Azam Hospital in Ali Abad Katoul, Golestan province, Iran, in 2018. The children were hospitalized for at least 24 hours and were selected by the convenience sampling method. The concerns of mothers were measured by the parents’ concerns Questionnaire, and the mothers’ needs were assessed by “the needs of hospitalized children’s parents” questionnaire through individual interview. Data were Analyze of Variance and Independent sample test and Spearman Analysis by SPSS 21 Software at a significance level of 0.05.
Results: The mean scores of mothers’ concerns and mothers’ needs were 16.6 ±5.4 and 152.78± 2.35, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant relationship between mothers’ concerns and mothers’ needs (P <0.001).
Conclusion: Mothers’ concerns are decreased by decreasing mothers’ needs. By identifying factors effective in decreasing mothers’ concerns, the treatment team members, especially nurses, can play an important role in providing nursing care and support for mothers of hospitalized children. Therefore, increasing the selfconfidence of mothers and providing nursing support for them will increase the quality of care and satisfaction of patients and their caregivers, especially mothers.