Moving from Participation towards Partnership in Nursing Care

Background: Meeting with health care gets short before and after the operation. The difficulty at the day surgery is that preparation and information take place in close proximity to the operation. Health professionals must not only take care of the child during the medical visit, but also of the accompanying parent, too. Parents’ participation in the perioperative care, sometimes unable to attend. Aim: This study aims to investigate how parental involvement in the perioperative a process can be facilitated. Method: A qualitative design based on observations and interviews with semi structured questions with open answers. Results: The results conveyed involvement in the child’s perioperative process in diverse ways and to a different depth. This is highlighted in the theme Allowed with the under themes Security and Being accepted. However, the theme Exclusion with the under-theme Rejection revealed a non-caring approach where no caring relation could be established. Quotes from the transcribed material are used to highlight the results. Conclusion: The study’s findings confirm earlier studies in the perspective that information is of central importance in enabling parents to be involved in the perioperative process. The results showed that parents’ involvement in the perioperative process is a prerequisite for creating safety in the child and reducing concerns in connection with the operation. Parental involvement may be hindered by a conventional approach that does not include the child’s perspective