CARE BONDS: EXPLORING THE SOCIAL SUPPORT NETWORK AMONG MOTHERS OF CHILDREN IN A PEDIATRIC INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

Abstract

Introduction: Child hospitalization, regardless of the causes and antecedent events that culminated its need, is permeated by ambiguous and diffuse feelings, and when a child is submitted to pediatric hospitalization, his entire family system gets sick with it. As the ICU is one of the most complex and impactful environments, it is necessary for this family member-caregiver to use coping strategies to minimize the impact of the moment experienced. Sometimes, this is a role exclusively performed by mothers, so the social support network becomes a facilitator of the process. Objective: To understand the social support network formed among mothers of children hospitalized in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive, exploratory study, with a qualitative approach with open discourse analysis, developed in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of a maternal and child teaching hospital in a city in the interior of the state of São Paulo. Ten mothers of children hospitalized in the PICU were invited. The instruments used were: sociodemographic questionnaire and qualitative interview. Results: The results showed that the mean age of the mothers was 33.5 years (± 7.31) and that of the children was 48.9 months (± 55.75), equivalent to a little more than four years of age. It was possible to observe that all participants had family and friends who contributed to the support of daily activities, so that they could remain at the bedside, listing some of them as their support network from the nuclear and/or extended family. Regarding the support network formed among the mothers of the PICU, the majority brought in their discourse the importance of the support received, especially at the beginning of hospitalization, being a mechanism for coping with suffering essential during the process, being able to reciprocate with the passage of consecutive days in the sector, for the newly admitted mothers, generating a cycle of mutual care and solidarity. Positive and negative aspects of living together were listed, demonstrating that each companion experiences hospitalization in a unique way, taking into account their subjectivities, however, in view of the general panorama observed, all mothers felt welcomed and belonged to the group, enabling a better understanding of the hospital context experienced.