The hospitalization experience and single-parent families. A time of special vulnerability.

Hospitalization of a child is always stressful to families. For families without two parents to share the responsibilities and support one another, the stress is not easily borne. Furthermore, such families are likely to already have additional stresses related to the reason for the family breakup (divorce or death of a parent) and have the limited resources of single-parenthood: financial, social, time, and energy. If nurses and other health care personnel will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these vulnerable families and offer support and workable solutions to relieve specific pressures, these families may cope with the stresses more competently and, indeed, may discover new resources within themselves, with their families, and with their nonfamily support systems that can be used again in times of crisis. Ultimately the competent family will be able to nurture the child optimally, no matter what the specific health problems. Therefore pediatric nurses supporting the family also support the hospitalized child.