Educational challenges of family caregivers of vegetative state patients for home care preparedness: A qualitative content analysis
نویسندگان
1 Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, Department of Pediatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
2 Department of Biostatistics, School of Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
3 Department of Medical‑Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
4 Lung Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
5 Department of Medical‑Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
doi
چکیده
BACKGROUND: Patients with a vegetative state (VS) are completely dependent on caregivers inall physical aspects of their lives. Caring for such patients comes with a great deal of difficulty forfamily caregivers. As a result, family caregivers must be fully trained and prepared for this role. Thepresent qualitative study was conducted to investigate the educational challenges faced by familycaregivers of VS patients for home care preparedness.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present qualitative study was conducted through the conventionalcontent analysis method from August 2020 to September 2021 in two provinces of Iran (Sistan andBaluchestan Province; and Razavi Khorasan Province). Fourteen family caregivers of patients in a VSwere included in the study. Semi‑structured and in‑depth interviews were employed to collect data.The Graneheim and Lundman method was utilized to conduct the data analysis using MAXQDA2020software. Data collection continued until data saturation and the identification of main categories.RESULTS: As indicated by the data analysis, three categories of “unmet educational needs,”“confused caregiver,” and “searching for practical knowledge” which included 19 sub‑categoriesdescribed the experiences of family caregivers of patients in a VS concerning challenges they wentthrough in preparation for patient care at home. Participants’ experiences revealed that despite theinadequacy of educations provided by health‑care providers on knowledge and skills required byfamily caregivers, they were committed to caring for the patient and trying to acquire the requiredknowledge.CONCLUSION: Results indicated that inadequate education and the lack of family caregivers’contribution to caring for the patient in the VS during their stay in the hospital impedes their acquisitionof adequate knowledge and skill to care for patients at home. Therefore, healthcare systempolicymakers should be planning to eliminate the educational barriers faced by family caregiversand expand the educational activities of hospitals’ homecare centers to provide educational supportof family caregivers after the patient’s discharge.
