Depression, anxiety and stress levels of parents with children in the intensive care unit

The fact that the child gets sick and stays in the intensive care unit can cause parents to have anxiety about the child's health, and to have difficulties in fulfilling their daily routines and roles, and to be emotionally worn out in this process. With this descriptive study, it was aimed to examine the stress, anxiety and depression levels of parents whose children were hospitalized in the intensive care unit. The sample of the study consisted of the parents of the children hospitalized in the Gazi University Medical Faculty Hospital Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (n= 152). Data were collected between 04.12.2021- 15.05.2022 using Child and Parent Information Form and Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale-21. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach Alpha, Kolmogrow Smirnow, Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis H and Pearson Correlation tests were used in the analysis of the data, and Bonferroni test was used for further analysis. The mean stress score of the parents within the scope of the study was 5.78±3.78, the mean anxiety score was 5.56±3.84, and the mean depression score was 6.64±3.85. According to the parents' anxiety level, occupation and closeness; it was determined that the level of depression created a statistically significant difference according to income status and hospital stay (p<0.05). As a result of this research, it can be said that parents whose children are hospitalized in the intensive care unit experience mild anxiety and depression. In the light of these results, it can be suggested that nurses provide family-centered holistic care, including their parents as well as children treated in the intensive care unit.