Abstract

Mothers are often asked to use goal setting to help their children achieve optimal health. Before mothers can be successful, they must grasp the meaning and process of goal setting. Currently there is a glaring lack of published research regarding how goal setting is understood and experienced by mothers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the self-described understanding and experiences of mothers, regarding goal setting for their preschool children. Narrative Inquiry was used to explore mothers' experiences with goal setting. A purposive sample of mothers with children in a Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten program were recruited from the central Florida area. Data were obtained from demographic instruments and personal interviews using a semi-structured guide. Interviews were coded to ensure confidentiality, audio-recorded and transcribed. The narratives were analyzed for thematic emergence using content analyses techniques. Four major themes emerged: Parental Knowledge, Barriers, Process of Goal Setting, and Provider Involvement. Parental knowledge of goal setting was varied and unique; barriers of goal setting were focused on keeping children motivated and fear of failing; each participant used a different goal setting process and noted that provider involvement was limited at best. Data analysis revealed minimal effective communication between mothers and nursing providers about goal setting. As a result, mothers utilized unique goal setting processes for their children. Despite their varied understandings of goal setting and the goal setting process, these mothers were not stifled in their goal setting efforts. Educating nurses to communicate effectively with parents about goal setting with their children and addressing barriers they might face, is important. Incorporating goal setting into routine care can be an effective strategy to help patients attain health-related goals. Future research examining the perspective of goal setting from children and other caregivers and development of interventions to aid in goal attainment is needed.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2018

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Weiss, Josie

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Nursing

Department

Nursing

Degree Program

Nursing

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0007326

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0007326

Language

English

Release Date

December 2018

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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