Digital Communication in Paediatric Surgery Care: Meeting Parents' and Children's Fundamental Care Needs at Home

AIM: To explore the fundamental care needs of parents and children in relation to surgery for a congenital malformation, and the nursing care provided to support these needs through digital communication. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive study. METHOD: Verbatim transcripts chat messages (n = 3081) and textual descriptions of photos (n = 253) generated through asynchronous digital communication between parents of 29 children and four nurses in highly specialised paediatric surgical outpatient care. Data were collected between 2022 and 2024 and were analysed with deductive content analysis guided by a categorisation matrix based on the Fundamentals of Care framework. RESULTS: The findings show how multiple aspects of nursing care, together with a deeper understanding of parents' and children's needs, can be articulated and supported through digital communication. All Fundamental Care dimensions were identified within the digital communication. Relationship building permeated all interactions, expressed through tone and tailoring of nursing responses. Communication consistently addressed the needs of both parents and children. CONCLUSION: Asynchronous digital communication supports the building of fundamental relational, medical and psychosocial care, and enables individualised support for parents and children, also for complex medical conditions. Thereby the digital communication is suitable for strengthening individualised paediatric surgical care. IMPLICATIONS: These findings deepen understanding of nursing care delivered through digital communication and may inform evidence-based strategies and guidelines for digital interventions that strengthen support for families in the home setting. IMPACT: This research may support further development of digital follow-up for patients with complex conditions, highlighting the importance of both the content and delivery of communication to ensure safe and effective remote care. Improved digital follow-up may enhance quality of life for families who might otherwise rely on hospital-based care or manage complex needs at home without adequate support. REPORTING METHOD: COREQ.