title: Mothers' perceptions of fever in children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fever is one of the most common symptoms for children. Most fevers are not dangerous; parents, especially mothers, nevertheless experience severe anxiety confronting children's fevers. This study aimed to explore the mothers' perceptions of fever in their children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mothers of hospitalized febrile children were selected by purposeful sampling method from two hospitals in Bushehr in 2012. Data saturation was reached after in-depth semi structured interviews with 12 participants. Data analysis was done by conventional content analysis method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sense of concern, the necessity for quick action and the need for protection emerged from mothers' views. Sense of concern came from concerns over cause of fever, child's hospitalization and possible side-effects of fever. The necessity for quick action resulted from gathering information, self-medication and referring to healthcare centres; the need for spiritual and emotional protection created the need to protect in mothers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings showed that mothers need educational, emotional and spiritual protection in order to overcome their concerns and managing their children's fever. It is recommended that an empowering model based on these findings be developed in order to strengthen mothers in dealing with fevers in order to prevent excessive concern and anxiety.
authors.affiliation: Persian Gulf Tropical Medicine Research Center, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ravanipour
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
authors.forename: Sherafat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akaberian
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric, School of Medicine, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
authors.forename: Gissou
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hatami
keywords: Febrile child; mothers’ perception; qualitative study