PhD project: Optimizing health care services for families who have a child with complex health care needs

Providing care and support for the emerging population of children with complex care needs and their families is a crucial aspect of primary nursing care. Children's complex care needs refer to multidimensional health and social care needs in the presence of a recognized medical condition or where there is no unifying diagnosis.

The recent shift towards homecare, relying on parents as the primary caregiver has significantly impacted the daily lives of these families.

As the largest professional group in the healthcare force, nurses are in an ideal position to provide comprehensive and integrated family-centered care tailored to the whole family. However, health care structures in Norway are not currently equipped to effectively support these vulnerable families, highlighting the need for rigorous research that will contribute to the development of a sustainable healthcare service, thereby enhancing the health and well-being of children and their families.

The overall aim of the project is to optimize nursing services to promote wellbeing in families who have children with complex care needs at home. An existential caring orientation provides the theoretical foundation for the three sub studies of this research.

The doctoral thesis is being conducted at UiT, Master in Nursing Science, Department of Health and Care Sciences by PHD candidate Carina Nygård and supervisors Associate Professor Gabriele Kitzmüller and Professor Anne Clancy.