Family nursing practice and family importance in care – Attitudes of nurses working in intensive care units

Abstract

The family plays a substantial role in African care settings; moreover, the current COVID-19 pandemic has created overwhelming challenges for families. Yet, family healthcare practices remain less studied in sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this study was to assess the extent of family nursing practice and nurses’ attitudes towards family importance in care in adult intensive care units (ICU). A cross-sectional study was conducted among 116 nurses working in adult intensive care units using census sampling method. The instruments used for data collection included the Family Nursing Practice Scale (FNPS) and the Family Importance in Care-Nurses’ attitudes (FINC-NA). In total, 116 eligible nurses participated in the study out of 150 invited nurses (77.3% response rate). The mean score of FNPS was 38.7 ± 12.7 whilst the mean score of FINC-NA was 90.6 ± 14.7. The Pearson’s product-moment correlation revealed a positive relationship was revealed between FNPS and FINC-NA (r = 0.6; p < 0.01) The findings identified that most ICU nurses had a positive attitude towards family importance in care however, nurses reported family support practices were minimal. In attempt to enhance family support provided by nurses, it is recommended to develop practice and educational strategies for nurses aimed at improving of family care. This is useful to families in sub-Saharan African countries were families play a vital role in caring for the patient during admission and after discharge.