This study has the objective of understanding the existential experience of mothers of children hospitalized in an Intensive Pediatric Care Unit (IPCU). It is a qualitative-based research grounded on the humanistic nursing theory. The investigation scenario was the IPCU of a public hospital. Five mothers of children who were hospitalized in the referred unit participated in the investigation. Data were analyzed from the standpoint of the five phases of the phenomenological nursing. The following issues emerged from the collected statements: the relationship between mothers and nursing professionals at the moment of admission and throughout the child's hospitalization period in the IPCU; and mothers who experience fear, despair and loneliness in face of the child's disease. The present study highlights the complexity of a mother-centered approach and subsidizes a new look at the field of the care, teaching and nursing research.
Mothers; Child, hospitalized; Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; Professional-family relations; Nursing theory