Perspectives on the mental health of immigrant children in the pediatric emergency department: a phenomenological study

The concept of immigration is a complex phenomenon that goes far beyond mere relocation and refers to the transition from one social environment to another or from one culture to another. Immigration and its effects on children are regarded as global and interdisciplinary problems. This study aims to reveal the opinions of nurses working in the pediatric emergency department about the mental health of immigrant children. In this qualitative research, a phenomenological research design was used (N = 19).Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview form. Colaizzi’s method was used to analyze the data manually. Four categories, eleven themes, and thirty-eight sub-themes emerged from the analysis of the data. The difficulties nurses experience with immigrant children and their relatives in providing care include communication problems, cultural problems, and economic problems. The causes of mental health problems in immigrant children include war, exposure to immigration traumas, cultural assimilation problems, loss/absence of parents, economic reasons/excessive role overload, and exposure to neglect and/or abuse. Education, economic aid, communication, non-stigmatization, and social support were identified as significant sub-themes for practices to protect/promote children’s mental health. The study showed that immigrant children experience physical and mental problems. Nurses struggle to treat immigrant children effectively but have difficulties due to insufficient facilities. It may be suggested to include cultural care models in patient care.