3. Findings
Although the first author’s initial interest was related to
parenting experiences in the post-hospitalization period,
parents’ accounts invariably included their experiences of
the burn event and their child’s hospitalization. As these
788 V. Ravindran et al. / International Journal of Nursing Studies 50 (2013) 786–796
experiences were related to their experiences of parenting
in the post-hospitalization period it was imperative to
include all phases of burn trajectory in the analysis and
conceptualization.
Family members’ accounts brought forth a threephased
burn trajectory; namely, the injury phase, wound
phase, and the scar phase. The injury phase included the
burn event and the period of hospitalization. The wound
phase extended from the time of hospital discharge until
the wound healed. The scar phase began when the scar
appeared. Blame evolved as a core category from the
participants’ accounts of parents caring for their burninjured
children through all phases of the burn trajectory