Perceptions of parents' participation in the care of their child undergoing day surgery: pilot-study.

In Canada, more than 100,000 children have procedures in day surgery units. In spite of certain programs designed to prepare those children and their parents for the procedures and events that take place in a hospital, the parents' role during the day stay is not openly and directly approached. Although many pediatric centers recognize the importance of the role of the family in the life of children with health problems, the perceptions of parents with children undergoing day surgery and their role in the hospital have not yet been studied. Therefore, the objective of our study was to describe parents' perceptions regarding their participation in the care of their children in a day surgery. Godin and Kok's (1996) integrated behavior prediction model related to health, which was drawn from Ajzen's theory of planned behavior (1991), was chosen for this research. An interview questionnaire was developed as the measurement instrument. Content analysis was the basis for the analysis of the data gathered through the interview questionnaire. Our article presents the results of this pilot study.