The experience of critically ill children: narratives of unmaking.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experience of critically ill children. Seventeen children were followed through the course of their trajectory for a minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 5 years. This experience was characterised as a process of unmaking and remaking of the children. This process typically involved a transformation (a reconstitution) of the child. These phenomena were shaped within the child's relationships with significant others. This raises important implications for fostering 'relational' critical care for children.