Parents' Experiences of Holding Their Child for Healthcare Procedures: A Qualitative Exploratory Study.

The study interviewed only eight parents, and only one was a father, so it cannot show how most parents or fathers experience holding. It was done at one hospital and included only English-speaking parents, so experiences may differ in other settings or languages. Parents whose children were receiving end-stage palliative care, acute mental health care, or identified as vulnerable were excluded. No children were interviewed, so the findings are parent reports about procedures, not children's own experiences. The research team were mostly nurses and some were parents, which may have shaped how interviews were conducted and themes were interpreted. Parents were recruited from wards with frequent procedures, so the sample may over-represent repeated procedural exposure. The design was exploratory and did not measure outcomes, so it cannot show whether holding helped or harmed children.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest, and the research received no specific funding.

Do not read these parent roles as evidence that holding children improves outcomes or reduces distress. The study interviewed eight parents and describes their experiences; it did not test whether holding helped the child or made the procedure safer.