Journal of Nursing & Care

Process in which Fathers of Home-Cared Children Acquire Medical Care Nursing Technique

Abstract

Junko Kusano, Masak Takano and Aya Adachi

The purpose of this study is to clarify the process in which fathers of home-cared children who are in need of
medical care acquire technique of care and physical condition management for their children. Subjects of the study
were 5 fathers of home-cared children needing medical care of in Prefecture A. Survey period is from May, 2018 to
July. The researchers visited home of fathers who agreed with participation in the study and performed semi-structured
interview for them. The interview time is average 51 minutes and the revised version of Grounded Theory was used for
data analysis. As a result of the analysis, 33 concepts, 13 subcategory and 3 categories were generated. “Challenge
the care”, “Acquisition of analytical thinking” “Independence of care and judgment” were extracted for the categories.
Fathers who just begin to learn about medical care tended to judge conditions of their children with numeric values as
a standard, without having expert knowledge. They received instructions from mothers, who mastered care more. After
that, the fathers came to see expression and foot colors of their children while observing anaerobic conditions, and
minded the mood of the children. Mothers assumed the central role of the care and fathers guessed their symptoms
while being unable to predict them. By the time when the children spent 1-2 years pass after the discharge from NICU,
the father became able to judge physical conditions of their children comprehensively and care them Father’s support
surpassed what nurses could do in observing and caring children.