Abstract
The aim of this study was to reveal the experiences of families (the couple subsystem) whose children with congenital disease were transported in emergencies to an intensive care unit and needed surgical treatment. Nine couples or mothers participated in semi-structured interviews. The accumulated narrative data were analyzed qualitatively. The families' experiences included that "the father tries to alleviate the mother's shock by approaching her deliberately and trying to reinforce positive thinking," "the shock of finding out at the same time that their newborn child has a congenital disease and suddenly needs to under surgery," "facing the pain of being separated from the sick child after birth in extraordinary circumstances," "feeling the suffering of both the hospitalized child and his or her siblings," "cherishing the value of family value and finding a way for the family to get over their pain," "moving toward a new stage in which the family protects the child in daily life while feeling anxious about the child." Two themes were detected from the above: easing the shock in the family of being informed of their child's disease and that their child will unexpectedly undergo neonatal surgery, and finding a way to get over the pain from the hospitalization of their child and moving toward a new stage in the family. The present findings suggest that nurses need to first understand the family's views about how they will try to cope with their shock and burden, and then provide appropriate information to support the family.
