title: The paediatric emergency ward--do mothers want to stay?
abstract: The attitudes of parents towards staying with their children in the medical emergency ward at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town, are reported on. A randomly selected sample of 80 parents or caretakers attending children in the ward were interviewed. The interviews were semi-structured and included open-ended questions. Data were recorded on interview schedules. Of the respondents, 96% wanted to stay with their acutely ill children, although 20% of these were anxious about the effect of this on events at home or at work. Based on the finding that mothers want to stay, even in view of difficulties regarding the situation at home and at work, improved facilities for parents should receive high priority. Recommendations arising from the study include the provision of more comfortable sleeping accommodation for parents, availability of refreshments on a 24-hour basis and provision of a regular supply of books and magazines to the ward.
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D002673:Child, Hospitalized; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D006757:Hospital Units; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers; D010372:Pediatrics; D011897:Random Allocation