Syfte: Att studera föräldrars uppfattning om den preoperativa information de får inför sitt barns planerade operation, samt undersöka om och på vilket sätt föräldrarna anser att informationen behöver förbättras. Metod: Kvantitativ, deskreptiv enkätstudie. Enkäten innehöll främst standardiserade frågor men även några öppna frågor. Föräldrar till barn i åldrarna 0-3 år inneliggande på en barnkirurgisk vårdavdelning ombads delta i studien. Antalet insamlade enkäter var 22 stycken. Resultat: Föräldrarna var som helhet nöjda med den preoperativa informationen, majoriteten ansåg att mängden information varit lagom omfattande och att informationen från personalen oftast gavs på ett sätt så att de förstod. Några föräldrar ansåg att informationen gällande det postoperativa vårdförloppet delvis varit bristfällig. De flesta ansåg att informationen de fått stämde med vårdförloppet som följde. Dock framkom att föräldrarna önskat få mer förberedande information, såväl praktisk som medicinsk tillsammans med kallelsen. Slutsats: Resultatet visar att de flesta föräldrar som helhet var nöjda med informationen de fått inför sitt barns operation med visst undantag för innehållet i kallelsen och den properativa informationen gällande det postoperativa förloppet. / Aim: To study the parent’s perception of the preoperative information they receive for their child's scheduled surgery, and examine whether and how parents believe that the information needs to be improved. Method: Quantitative Descriptive survey study. The questionnaire contained mainly standardized questions and some open questions. Parents of children aged 0-3 years hospitalized at a children's surgical ward were asked to participate in the study. The number of collected questionnaires was 22 pieces. Results: Parents were overall satisfied with the preoperative information, the majority felt that the amount of information was extensive enough and that the information from the staff is usually given in a way that they understood. Some parents felt that the information regarding the postoperative care process had partly been inadequate. Most parents felt that the information they received matched the care process that followed. However, it was found that parents wanted more preparatory information, both practical and medical, with the invitation. Conclusion: The results show that most parents as a whole were satisfied with the information they received before their child's surgery with certain exceptions for the content of the notice and the properativa information regarding the postoperative course.

Empowerment has been a popular concept in management and leadership practice and research for more than forty years. The intentions behind empowerment at the workplace are positive: empowered employees should experience a greater degree of influence, decision-making latitude, and meaningfulness. This is achieved through transfers of power, such as increases in autonomy and responsibility. Although empowerment efforts have often been shown to successfully result in empowered and highly involved employees, there has also been research that shows the opposite: the so-called paradox of empowerment is a well-known problem that refers to failed empowerment efforts through which beneficiaries feel disempowered rather than empowered. This thesis comprises three papers intended to contribute to empowerment research and practice within a sociological framework that offers a better understanding of implicit assumptions between employer and employee and the unintended consequences these can have on the outcome of empowerment change efforts. The analyses utilize a communicative approach in line with sociological and social-psychological theories of communication and interaction. The first two papers are theoretical analyses, one examining the general concept of empowerment (Paper I), the other focusing more specifically on empowerment in workplace contexts (Paper II). Paper III is an empirical analysis that investigates some of the theoretical assumptions made in Papers I and II. The first paper analyzes empowerment from a sociological point of view and identifies possible mechanisms behind the paradox of empowerment. It is argued that such paradoxes may evolve from discrepancies between approaching empowerment from a purely economic and structural perspective versus a communicative and relational one. It concludes with the observation that, although their agency may be increased on a structural level, empowerees may experience a parallel decrease of agential options on a communicative level. The second paper deals with empowerment at the workplace as a management or leadership technique. Focusing on relational aspects, a “basic communicative structure” is identified. This is analyzed as comprising a contractual and a communicative context that should be taken into consideration by empowerers in order to avoid misunderstandings in the recipients’ sensemaking processes. Paper II concludes by arguing that the way recipients make sense of their roles and situations as defined by employment and/or psychological contracts might not necessarily be in line with the communicative meanings they ascribe to the change agents’ actions, and vice versa. The third paper analyzes employees’ orientations and attitudes toward empowerment and the relevance of their attitudes for the success of empowerment efforts. These issues are explored by means of survey data from 268 employees in the Swedish retail sector. Results indicate that age and work intensity (part-time vs. full-time), as well as cohabitation status may have significant impacts on how empowerment efforts are approached and received by employees. The thesis as a whole provides insights into sociological issues of empowerment, both generally and particularly in management and leadership contexts and concludes that the communicative context of empowerment interactions plays a significant role in employees’ empowerment orientations. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript.</p>