Parents of children with cancer can spend 24 hours with them in the ICU
No parent wants their children to go through tough situations, but if they are inevitable, they would all like to be with their children. In addition, in certain contexts, the paternal presence helps the little ones to calm down in environments that cause fear such as hospitals. Therefore, the victory of the Federation of Spanish Parents of Children with Cancer it is still good news.
After 6 years of struggle, Children with Cancer has made all the Hospitals with Pediatric Intensive Care Units (UCIP) allow the accompaniment of parents 24 hours a day. A news that will allow these patients to have their most loved relatives close to provide them with all the necessary support in these difficult situations.
Pain reduction
From Children with Cancer highlights the main benefit of this news: the reduction of pain in these pediatric patients. Usually those who suffer from this disease must be hospitalized for a long time in hospital centers. Within them, they often undergo invasive therapies and tests that can cause great discomfort.
If this is added to the separation of their parents, the child's pain increases when he feels that the people he trusts most are not present in these such difficult moments. Thanks to the paternal presence, childhood cancer patients feel less anxious and show better mood in their day to day in such a difficult environment for a child as is the hospital.
On the other hand, Children with Cancer highlights that flexibility in this matter, it will allow parents to better organize shifts so that the child will never stay alone in the hospital and they can fulfill their work obligations. In the words of this Foundation, the news represents a great advance in the inclusion of the family figure in medical therapies, in this case of a disease as serious as cancer.
Benefits of paternal presence
The declaration of Children with Cancer is not the first that echoes the benefits of the paternal presence in the hospital together with their children with cancer. The Anesthesiology and Resuscitation service. Doctor Peset University Hospital, in Valencia, also indicates the therapeutic effects of this company during the stay of a minor in one of these centers.
The results of one of his works indicated, after analyzing a total of 40 children divided into two groups of 20, statistically significant differences were found in the quality of the anesthetic induction, with a more reassuring effect in the case of children who had been accompanied by their parents.
The Spanish Association of Pediatrics also highlights other benefits of paternal presence, such as the decrease in fear and the anxiety of the child and the end to the anguish of separation. A less painful and unpleasant experience usually facilitates future interventions. If the child is calmer, the collaboration will be easier and the health worker will be able to focus better on the procedure while the family member helps to calm and comfort the child.
Damián Montero
