Healthcare Professionals using Clinical Holding with Children

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    A Study to Investigate what Influences Healthcare Professionals to Initiate, Continue or Stop Holding Children Undergoing Clinical Procedures.

  • IRAS ID

    159196

  • Contact name

    Sara Melville

  • Contact email

    sara.melville@alderhey.nhs.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Edge Hill University

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    2 years, 0 months, 5 days

  • Research summary

    This study involves the observation of standard clinical practice undertaken by healthcare professionals in the course of the child's standard treatment.
    The parents are being asked to consent to allow the researcher to observe the clinical procedure their child will undergo as part of their normal clinical practice as undertaken by the healthcare professionals present.

    Background:
    The holding of children for clinical procedures is often regarded as essential for a clinical procedure to be completed (Darby and Cardwell 2001). Clinical holding refers to a child’s movement being restricted without their cooperation, or consent, in order to undertake a procedure (Brenner 2007). However, there is no evidence to suggest what influences healthcare professionals decisions to hold a child for a procedure and how and why those decision are made.
    This study aims to establish what influences healthcare professionals to initiate, continue or stop holding children undergoing clinical procedures.

    The study will use a qualitative explanatory case study methodology (Yin 2009). The case will be defined as a procedure in which a child may, or may not, require clinical holding for a procedure to be completed.
    Data will be collected within a regional children’s hospital. This study will observe the case of a clinical procedure, as it happens, in usual standard clinical practice. The observations will be used to develop vignettes of the procedure which inform semi structured interviews with healthcare professionals from each case observed. The interviews will explore what influences healthcare professionals decisions to initiate, continue and stop holding a child for a procedure. Data will be analysed using a thematic data analysis method. The themes will be developed inductively from the data and informed by the study aims in relation to the case.

  • REC name

    East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    15/EE/0208

  • Date of REC Opinion

    15 May 2015

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion