Role and Role Burden of Caregivers with Hospitalized Children

입원아동 보호자의 역할과 역할부담감

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the role and role burden of caregivers with hospitalized children. Methods: The participants included 149 main caregivers from two pediatric hospitals whose children have been hospitalized for at least 2 days at children's hospital. The data were collected from August 1 to september 30, 2013 using self-report questionnaires of checklist type for caregivers' role and Likert scale for role burden. Results: Role for hospitalized children showed that personal hygiene was the highest, and consultation with nurses and doctors was the lowest in total frequency per day. Of the role for the caregivers themselves and family, personal hygiene was the highest, and home management was the lowest. The degree of role burden perceived by hospitalized children's caregivers was the slightly high. Of the categories, emotional burden was the highest and dependent burden was the lowest. There were differences by caregivers' age, children's age, and children's health status. Conclusion: The caregivers performed various roles, especially more frequently on personal hygiene and nutrition for their hospitalized children and themselves and family, and had slightly high role burden. These results may contribute to develop nursing interventions that can help adapt on hospitalization of children and their caregivers.