*Close your eyes*Imagined you are married with two of what you see to be perfect children*You take one of them for their yearly checkup and are given the news that they need surgery immediately, and it could potentially be vital.*Open your eyes*How do you feel

When I was just 7 years old my brother, Daryn, age 10, was given 5 years to live….

How does children undergoing vital cardiac surgery impact their families psychologically?

Domenique Dellilo

Overview-The focus of this study is Pediatric Cardiac surgery, which is any type of heart surgery in a child under the age of 18, and the psychological impacts it has on the families related to the child undergoing the surgery.-I am using an analytical auto ethnographic approach, which means I will be using a personal experience, analyzing each aspect of it from multiple points of view, and relating it back to my research question as supporting information to my many hypotheses.

Hypothesis• A child undergoing life threatening surgery puts a large amount

of stress and anxiety on their family members.• Relationships between siblings may be better or worse in the

future depending upon being there for support, or being jealous of the attention given.

• It can alter the relationship parents have in a bad way, driving a wedge between their marriage.

• Parents may be more cautious and over protective with this child in the future over the other children they may have.

MethodsMy main approach will be using my personal story and weaving my family member stories into my research. I will analyze each one of my family members stories separately and place them where they best support my hypothesis.If additional information is needed I will conduct a survey with people who have experienced such an event throughout the course of their lives. I would then relate that to my own personal experience. I will also find journals that were written partially auto ethnographically and see how they connected their personal experiences in order to make my paper more informative.

My StoryWhen I was younger my brother who is 3 years older than me had to have open heart surgery. I remember how difficult it was for my family to hear the news that a 10 year old was going to undergo a life threatening surgery. The few weeks before his surgery everyone was very on edge and I can remember my parents treating my brother as if he could break any second. This was definitely a life changing experience for all of us. I think that an event such as this one can definitely affect relationships that families experience in the future. So I am using this story as supporting information for the gap in my research: How does this event affect future relationships?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc0vO7XqkE0

-This clip briefly displays how people can be effected in such an event. It can cause ones thought process to cease, and for them to make irrational decisions.

How do you think this image affected his family members?

ResourcesAlice Bayne, Patricia Kirkland. Prepare children for surgery one stage at a time. September 2008. http://www.nursingcenter.com/pdf.asp?AID=822766 Accessed February 4, 2013. Jo Wray, Kirsty Lee, Nettie Dearmun, Linda Franck. Journal of Child Health Care, Parental Anxiety and Stress During Children’s Hospitalization. September 14, 2011. http://chc.sagepub.com/content/15/3/163.full.pdf+html Accessed February 11, 2013. S. Scrimin, M. Haynes, G. Altoè, M. H. Bornstein, G. Axia. National Institutes of Health, Anxiety and stress in mothers and fathers in the 24 h after their child’s surgery. March 2009. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3496245/pdf/nihms405409.pdf. Accessed February 4, 2013. L. Shields. International Nursing Review, A Review of the Literature from Developed and Developing Countries Relating to the Effects of Hospitalization on Children and Parents. July 7, 2008. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1466-7657.2001.00032.x/full Accessed February 11, 2013.

Louis A. Penner, Rebecca J. W. Cline, Terrance L. Albrecht, Felicity W. K. Harper, Amy M. Peterson, Jeffrey M. Taub, John C. Ruckdeschel. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, Parents’ Empathic Responses and Pain and Distress in Pediatric Patients. July 9, 2008. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01973530802208824 Accessed February 11, 2013. Zeev N. Kain, Jill E. Maclaren, Carrie Hammell, Cristina Novoa, Michelle A. Fortier, Heather Huszti, Linda Mayes. Pediatric Anesthesia, Healthcare Provider- Child- Parent Communication in the Preoperative Surgical Setting. April 2009.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1460-9592.2008.02921.x/full Accessed February 11, 2013. Mark J. Fisher, Marion E. Broome. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, Parent- Provider Communication During Hospitalization. February 2011. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0882596309004114 Accessed February 11, 2013. Madelon A. Visintainer, John A. Wolfer. Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Psychological Preparation for Surgical Pediatric Patients: The Effect on Children’s and Parents’ Stress Responses and Adjustment. 2012.http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/56/2/187.short Accessed February 18, 2013.

Martha A. Curley. American Journal of Critical Care, Clinical Research: Together, Stronger, Bolder. July 2012.http://ajcc.aacnjournals.org/content/21/4/234.abstract  Accessed February 18, 2013. 

Kathy Healy. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, A Descriptive Survery of the Information Needs of Parents Children Admitted for Same Day Surgery. August 2012. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088259631200200X Accessed February 18, 2013. 

Megan A. Moreno, Fred Furtner, Frederick P. Rivara. JAMA Pediatrics, How Parents Can Help Children Cope with Procedures and Pain. September 2011. https://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1106734 Accessed February 18, 2013.

Image Citations:

Azumio.comMedpagetoday.com