Abstract
The purpose of this review was to describe parents’ experiences of caring for a ventilator-dependent child at home. The data consisted of 19 articles searched from Medic, Arto, Linda, Cinahl, Medline and PsycINFO databases and manually for the 1998–2016. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Parents’ experience of caring for a ventilator-dependent child at home showed that caring for such a child made life a constant battle for survival. This constant battle for survival meant struggling with life management challenges, trying to maintain balance within the family and turning to everyday resources. The home became like a hospital because of the presence of technology and healthcare staff. Parenting of a ventilator-dependent child meant undertaking some nursing. The effects of this on parenting have not been given enough attention in paediatric care. The results of the review show that the life with a ventilator-dependent child is a constant struggle and balancing act, which the parents cannot manage without professional support. Further research on the topic is needed because more and more increasingly sick children are able to live at home with the help of medical technology.
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Lahtinen, M., Joronen, K. (2017). Parents’ Experiences of Caring for a Ventilator-Dependent Child: A Review of the Literature. In: Kollak, I. (eds) Safe at Home with Assistive Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42890-1_9
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