Nurses' Perceptions and Attitudes toward Family-Centered Care in Acute Pediatric Care Settings in Jordan

Abstract

PurposePerceptions and attitudes toward working with parents may influence nurses' family-centered clinical care practices. There is a paucity of research measuring family-centered care among nurses working with children and their parents in Jordan. The purpose of this study was to explore nurses' perceptions of family-centered care by examining nurses' attitudes toward working with children and their parents, as well as toward family-centeredness. Also investigated was the extent to which the selected demographic characteristics of nurses explain the discrepancies between their child- and parent-focused attitudes. Design and methodsUsing a cross-sectional descriptive study, 246 nurses completed the ‘Working with families’ questionnaire. A paired t-test used to compare the working with children versus working with parents' attitude scores, and independent t-test and ANOVA to explore the influence of nurses' demographic characteristics attitude scores. ResultsThe nurses scored higher for working with children than with parents, suggesting more positive attitudes toward the former than the latter (p < 0.001). The family-centeredness scores varied with nurses' years of clinical experience (p < 0.001) and years of employment (p < 0.005). ConclusionsThe applicability of the family-centered care model in Jordan's hospitals is challenged by the fact that pediatric nurses register more positive attitudes for working with children than with parents. Practice implicationsNurses' attitude toward working with children's families requires more evaluation prior to implementing family-centered care in practice. Further research is needed to explore factors contributing to discrepancies between child- and parent-focused attitudes among nurses.