Facing challenges to family-centered care. II: Anger in the clinical setting

Common sources of parental anger in the hospital setting include visiting restrictions, an unexpected change in the child's health status, confusion resulting from conflicting or insufficient information provided by the staff, and feeling undervalued in the care of their infant or child. Principles of family-centered care can be applied to develop strategies that assist nurses in handling these stressful situations in a professional and therapeutic manner. Nurses' own defensiveness and anger in response to parental anger can also be eased by use of these techniques as well as by mentoring, education, and support.