A Good Parent: What does this mean to you and how has it evolved?

Parents want to be the best parents they can be for their child. While this is true for all parents, it feels especially important and true for parents caring for children living with serious illness and medical complexity. Parenting these children involves advocating for them, making decisions about medical interventions (with or for them, depending on the child’s cognitive abilities and developmental age), providing for quality of life in all ways, and so much more.  The stakes can feel especially high. And for bereaved parents, how they feel about how they parented can have an impact on their grief. 

The notion of being a good parent for children living with illness is a field of research that was initiated by Pamela Hinds, Phd, NP. CPN is excited to now collaborate with Dr. Hinds and colleagues Dr. Meaghann Weaver and Dr. Lori Wiener to further this work because we believe that the more that is known about what matters most to parents, the better able medical providers will be to support families.