FAIR Play: Respite for parents caring for children requiring complex home care

15^th Euro Nursing & Medicare Summit

October 17-19, 2016 Rome, Italy

Heather L Mac Donald

University of New Brunswick, Canada

Keynote: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

Advances in nursing and medical care augmented by developments in pharmaceutical and health technologies have led to an increasing number of children who require complex care at home. Parents are their carer givers. In this ethnographic
study there were:
47 Participants
19 Mothers
4 Fathers
7 Grandparents
13 Nurses
4 Social Workers
Data Collection consisted of in-depth interviews; participant observation; and document review. There were five emergent themes: Parents Caring; Caring and the Impact on Parental Identity; The Nature of Respite; and Fair Play. In this paper the key categories within the theme Fair Play will be discussed. These categories include:
� Care obligations
� Feelings of entitlement
� Respite information needs
� Ongoing support needs
� Negotiating the system and
� Equity

Biography :

Heather L Mac Donald completed a Master’s degree in Nursing at the University of Toronto, Canada and a PhD at the University of Manchester in the UK. Currently, she is a Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of New Brunswick (Canada). Her doctoral work examined respite for parents who were caring for children who required complex care.

Email: heatherm@unb.ca