This study aimed to capture the feelings experienced by the mother who accompanies her child when admitted to hospital and also to identify the coping strategies used to deal with this situation. This is a qualitative study that used the Drawing-Story procedure as the data collection technique, applied to 17 mothers who roomed in with their children in a Pediatric Ward of a University Hospital. The psychological interpretation of the drawings was used in the analysis of the data, and also the analysis of the content of the language used in the story told by the mother, based on the drawings. For this purpose, the theoretical framework proposed by van Kolck was used to interpret the drawings. The data containing the words used by the individuals were analyzed along the lines of the content analysis proposed by Minayo. An expression of mental suffering was observed out of feelings of fear, concern, helplessness, sadness, leading to anxiety and anguish.
Coping behavior; Family; Hospitalization; Mental suffering