ABSTRACT
Hospitalization increases vulnerability. For patients, the hospital is a foreign place with acrid unpleasant odors that lacks sunlight, fresh air, and the familiar and reassuring comforts of home. People experience a loss of privacy and control over medical decisions and the systems and people who deliver care. In life-threatening illnesses, a person's relationship with their body is altered so dramatically that they may never completely forget the profound emotional impact of illness. Repeated setbacks and complications also contribute to anxiety the worry that, without notice or warning, anything could go wrong at any time and the consequences could be dire. Parents can feel overwhelming guilt about the impact of their illness on their children. Jennifer Brown's greatest concern and regret was the impact of repeated and often unexpected hospitalizations on her children.
