Assessment of stress in caregivers with children admitted in critical care units at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi
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Date
2020-09-01
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Abstract
Admission of a child to Critical Care Unit (CCU) is an unexpected and stressful event
for the caregiver which may result in physical and mental exhaustion. If stress in caregivers goes unnoticed, they become emotionally traumatised and this affects their role in the parenting of a critically ill child. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study that utilised quantitative data collection and analysis approaches to describe stress experienced by caregivers of critically ill children admitted in CCU at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. Caregivers who had critically ill children admitted in various CCU in the paediatric department were recruited using convenience sampling technique. The researcher in person conducted interviews using a structured questionnaire to 385 caregivers who were 18 years of age and above. Data analysis was done with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to present results of the study. Results of the study revealed that the average level of stress in caregivers was 3.41. Appearance of the child was the most stressful element in CCUs while healthcare workers’ conduct caused minimal stress to caregivers. Two components emerged from Principal component analysis (PCA) and these were stress related to child situation and stress related to healthcare workers. The findings also show that the level of stress in caregivers was significantly associated with the age of the caregiver and child and the nature of admission. Gender, residence, religion, education, ethnicity, prior admission, the gender of the child did not affect the level of stress. Healthcare workers require knowledge and skill in assessment of stressful situations in caregivers. Healthcare workers’ support will assist caregivers to cope while fulfilling important caregiver roles that are therapeutic to the critically ill child.