Abstract
For families that have a child who has experienced a medical trauma, adjusting to the demands of the injury, both physically and emotionally, can be an arduous task. However, there is a limited amount of literature available to providers to assist families during this time. The purpose of the study is to assess family functioning after a child has endured a medical trauma, through the perceptions of medical providers. A qualitative design was chosen for this study. The researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with two doctors and eight social workers. After interviewing ten participants, the following four themes emerged: 1) families’ reaction patterns were distinctive to the family; 2) the most significant coping mechanisms included social supports, religion, and family expectations; 3) major stressors included financial, stress from the doctors, and conflict between the family members; and 4) there were differences in roles, responsibilities and perspectives between the doctors and the social workers. For effective collaboration, the researchers split the first three chapters of the project evenly. The 10 interviews were divided and each researcher transcribed their own interviews. The researchers constructed the last two chapters together. The researchers hope that the findings from the study will increase awareness of the stress families endure and improve the quality of care medical providers offer to families that have a child who has experienced a medical trauma.