Parental perspectives on negotiation of their child’s care in hospital
Intended for healthcare professionals
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Parental perspectives on negotiation of their child’s care in hospital

Paula Sousa Assistant professor, Escola Superior de Enfermagem do Porto, Portugal
Ana Antunes Graduate nurses in paediatrics, Porto Hospital Pedro Hispano da Unidade Local de Saúde de Matosinhos, Portugal
Joana Carvalho Graduate nurses in paediatrics, Porto Hospital Pedro Hispano da Unidade Local de Saúde de Matosinhos, Portugal
Anne Casey Standards manager, Royal College of Nursing, London

Study finds communication between parents and children’s nurses is vital, but negotiating care needs roles to be defined clearly

Aim To increase understanding of parents’ perspectives on the negotiation of care.

Method A translated and validated questionnaire was completed by 444 parents of children admitted over a 16-month period to one hospital in Portugal.

Results The overwhelming majority of participating parents believed that parents should always stay with their child in hospital and provide basic care, including being woken in the night to do so. However, over one third thought that their participation might disrupt the nurses’ routines and a similar percentage felt uncomfortable telling nurses if they did not want to participate in care. Parents with higher levels of education and those aged over 30 were more likely to report good communication with the nursing team.

Conclusions Communication between parents and nurses is essential to partnership in care. Effective negotiation requires a clear definition of nurses’ and parents’ roles, as well as agreement on the level of participation in care by parents.

Nursing Children and Young People. 25, 2, 24-28. doi: 10.7748/ncyp2013.03.25.2.24.e142

Correspondence

paula.sousa@esenf.pt

Peer review

This article has been subject to open peer review

Conflict of interest

None declared

Received: 23 March 2012

Accepted: 12 December 2012

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