Patient Diaries in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploration of how patient diaries are used by the the child, their family and health care professionals in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Grounded Theory Approach
IRAS ID
140655
Contact name
Fiona J Lynch
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Plymouth
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Paediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) provide a high level of medical and nursing care to the child who is critically ill. The PICU, with its abundance of technology, busy staff and overall atmosphere of criticality has been well recognised as a stressor for all experiencing it. The impact of admission into a PICU for the child and their family is associated with significant and lasting psychological effects.
In Adult Intensive Care Units(AICU), the use of patient diaries has proved to be an effective intervention in reducing the negative emotional/psychological outcomes for the adult patient and their relatives. As a result, some PICUs are now incorporating the use of diaries, however little is known about how useful these are to paediatric patients, families or health care professionals.
The study will explore the patient's, their families' and health care professionals’ experiences of using the diaries in the PICU. The aim is to ascertain the perceived usefulness of the diaries from the perspective of the critically ill child, their family and healthcare professionals.
A Grounded Theory approach will be used to explore with participants, their views on how these patient diaries are used and whether they help with managing the emotional aspects of a PICU stay. The study involves children and their family being interviewed on two separate occasions, in hospital and six months post discharge. Health care professional participants will be interviewed via focus groups interviews.
The objectives of this study are to gain insight into how the diary is used, what is the perceived value, whether there are any negative implications of their use and the impact of the diaries on patients, parents and health professionals during the hospital stay and following discharge.
The understanding gained from this study, will influence the further development of the diaries in the future.
REC name
London - West London & GTAC Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/2026
Date of REC Opinion
7 Jan 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion