Experiencing the death of a loved one can be a difficult occurrence. Adolescents, in particular, experience death in a unique way. Yet there is relatively little research on adolescents’ experience with parental death and their involvement in the medical setting during a parent’s terminal illness. This qualitative study utilized heuristic inquiry, a type of phenomenological research, to investigate adolescents’ involvement in the hospital setting during parental terminal illness. Qualitative analysis of participants’ experiences resulted in two primary categories associated with adolescents’ involvement with medical professionals during parental illness: factors influencing hospital involvement and experience with health care professionals. The findings have implications for medical and mental health professionals who work with adolescent family members of terminally ill patients.

经历亲人的死亡可能是一件困难的事情。尤其是青少年，以独特的方式经历死亡。然而，关于青少年在父母身患绝症期间父母死亡以及他们在医疗环境中的经历的研究相对较少。这项定性研究利用启发式探究（一种现象学研究）来调查青少年在父母末期疾病期间参与医院环境的情况。对参与者经历的定性分析得出两个主要类别，与青少年在父母亲患病期间与医疗专业人员的参与有关：影响医院参与的因素和与医疗专业人员的经历。