Experiences of mothers with physical disabilities in the care of their children and their expectations from nurses

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: While more women with physical disabilities are becoming mothers, they have various experiences regarding the care of their children and they have expectations from nurses in this proce. Studies researching child care experiences of physical disabilities mothers and their expectations from nurses on this subject are quite limited. The purpose of this study is to determine the experiences of physical disabilities mothers in the care of their children and their expectations from nurses in this process and to provide strategic recommendations for nurses in line with these expectations. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Data from research conducted adhering to phenomenology, a qualitative method were collected between February 2020- September 2020 date in six different provinces in Turkey. The study group consisted of 21 physical disabilities mothers with children aged 0-18. In the analysis of the data as methodologically, the inductive coding path was followed. In the analysis, support was received from the Max Qualitative Data Analysis (MAXQDA) Analytics Pro2020 program. For the research, written permission from the ethics committee of the institution was obtained, and the approvals of the participants were obtained in writing and verbally with a tape recorder. RESULTS: Six themes were obtained as a result of the thematic analysis. These themes were obtained as "Prenatal Emotions and the Need for Support", "Postpartum Emotions and Care of the Child", "Strategies to Facilitate the Care Process", "School Process", "Expectations and Recommendations", "Advantages and Disadvantages". CONCLUSION: In the research, mothers with physical disabilities were found to go through various experiences in childcare due to disabilities, receive help while providing care to their children, or develop several strategies to facilitate their work. Mothers with physical disabilities stated that nurses did not trust them and did not empathize enough regarding their conditions. The participants also mentioned that nurses' training and attempts to provide information related to their needs resulting from physical disabilities were limited. KEYWORDS: Physical disabilities mothers, Childcare experience, Expectation from nurses, Qualitative Study