Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to make clear dynamic process of changing mothers' roles and their family situations at the initial stage of hospitalization of the cancer children as it is the initial stage that most drastic changes take place for the mothers and their families. The data was obtained from interviewing 12 mothers who were attending the hospitalized children. The data was qualitatively analyzed in the modified grounded theory approach. Three categories were analytically generated. The first is the acquiring process of new roles as the attending mothers with hospitalized cancer children. The second is the coordinating process of unperformed roles at home due to the attending the children, in which the mothers try to find some other persons on their behalf. The third category is the salvaging process of family ties among the family members who were scattered in time and space due to the hospitalization of their children.