Poster Presentation
Water's Edge Ballroom (Hilton Waikoloa Village)
Friday, July 15, 2005
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Water's Edge Ballroom (Hilton Waikoloa Village)
Friday, July 15, 2005
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Exploring Family Resiliency: Adolescents With Multiple Neurosurgeries and Chronic Pain
Linda A. Lewandowski, PhD, RN1, Hitomi Kobayashi, MSN, RN2, Patricia Bevier, RN, MS3, Jacquelyn M. Harold, BSN, RN4, Laura Morraset, BSN, RN4, and April Vallerand, PhD, RN2. (1) College of Nursing, Wayne State University/Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI, USA, (2) College of Nursing, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA, (3) Pediatric Pain Service, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI, USA, (4) 5-West, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI, USA
| Learning Objective #1: Describe characteristics of adolescents with chronic pain after multiple neurosurgeries who are “resilient” and adolescents who appear to have more trouble functioning |
| Learning Objective #2: Discuss the responses of families (mothers, fathers, siblings) identified as being more “resilient” in contrast to families experiencing greater difficulty and dysfunction |
Chronic pain has been a long-recognized problem which has not been fully explored in children and adolescents. New advances in medical treatments and changing health care practices such as shorter lengths of stay and early discharge have led to some challenging new situations in pain management. This project is a collaborative effort between nurses on a clinical unit, faculty, and students. The purpose of this project is to explore the illness, pain management, and coping strategies of adolescents who have experienced multiple neurosurgeries (20 or more) and their families. A particular focus is identifying differences between those families who appear to be more resilient (higher functional status, quality of life, and well-being) and those who appear to have more difficulty. Learning from families who are ‘resilient”, even in these challenging medical situations may help us develop interventions to assist other families faced with these situations in the future. This study uses a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods; standardized questionnaires and focus groups. The sample consists of adolescents, aged 11-17 years, their sibling/siblings, and parent/parents (primary caregiver) recruited from a population of adolescents followed by the Pediatric Neurosurgical Service at Children's Hospital of Michigan. Convenience sampling isused in this study of 80 families of adolescents with multiple neurosurgical conditions and chronic pain. Quantitative part (80 families): Descriptive statistics are used to analyze the frequencies and means of variables. The initial relationships among variables will be scored by correlation based on the conceptual framework of Family Resilience. Qualitative part (20 families): Focus groups are used to query patients and family members (separately: patients, siblings, mothers, fathers) about their experiences with chronic illness and chronic pain. Content and thematic analyses will be conducted. This study will be completed in Spring, 2005.