Abstract
Aim:
When a child has a newly diagnosed cancer, the doctor and the primary nurse verbally inform the parents about their child's illness and treatment. The parents receive a copy of the primary nurses written report. We wanted to find out how useful these written reports were to the parents, regarding what they remember and how they use the written report.
Subjects:
64 parents participated (34 mothers and 29 fathers of children with diagnosed cancer in 1995/96) (26 participants from paediatric surgery ward and 38 from paediatric oncology ward).
Instrument:
A structured interview with closed-ended questions was used. In answer to some question the parents had to choose a point from 0 to 10 (0 = no degree, 5 = medium degree, 10 = extremely high degree).
Results/Conclusion:
The parents answered that their use of a written report was extremely high (median 9,6 variation 0,8–10) (52 participants received a written report). -The parents used this written report as follows: To remember what the information contained; median 9,7 (extremely high degree) (variation 0,4–10), to inform family and friends; median 6,9 (high degree) (variation 0,2–10), and to inform the other parent who couldn't be present at the information meeting; median 9,7 (extremely high degree) (variation 0–10) (the figures are texted in English).