Nurses' perceptions of pediatric nursing functions

The purpose of this study was to describe nurses' perceptions of the importance of pediatric nursing functions and to determine if there were differences in perceptions of nurses in managerial, clinical, and teaching positions. Subjects were 125 pediatric nurses in managerial, clinical, and teaching positions. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of 43 nursing functions on a 9-point scale ranging from highly important to not at all important. Mean ratings of pediatric nursing functions were determined and one-way analyses of variance performed. The five nursing functions perceived to be most important were, in order of ranking: (a) providing emotional support of children, (b) recognizing significant physical deviations, (c) implementing nursing interventions, (d) preparing children psychologically for procedures and surgery, and (e) identifying nursing problems. Significant differences were found between groups in perceptions of the importance of 23 nursing functions, mainly in the areas of psychosocial care, teaching, and nursing process. Most differences were between the teaching and managerial groups or between teaching and the managerial and clinical groups combined. Differences in perceptions of the importance of a number of nursing functions, though not great, suggest a need for more dialogue between managers, teachers, and clinicians.