Lived Experiences Relating to Pediatric Surgery: The Case of Mexican American Mothers in a Southern US Border City

PurposeThis study examined the lived experiences of Mexican American mothers residing near a US/Mexico border town whose children underwent a surgical procedure requiring general anesthesia.DesignPhenomenology was used to examine the lived experiences of the participants.MethodTwelve Mexican American mothers were interviewed in the preoperative phase; 9 from the 12 participants were interviewed in the post-surgery phase. Giorgi's method of phenomenological analysis was used to identify the common themes.FindingsThematic differences and commonalities were found in the lived experiences between bilingual and monolingual Spanish-speaking Mexican American mothers in the preoperative and post-surgery phase.ConclusionThe lived experiences of Mexican American mothers regarding their children's surgery are shaped by language barriers and sociocultural factors. The findings of this study could inform health care providers on how to prepare Mexican American mothers about their children's surgery requiring general anesthesia.