Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 22, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
Family-centered care: do we practice what we preach?
Mary F Petersen1, Jayne Cohen, Virgil Parsons
1Maternal-Child Health, Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Santa Clara, CA 95051-5386, USA. mary.petersen@kp.org
Objective:
To determine nurses' perceptions and practices of identified elements of family-centered care.
Design:
Descriptive.
Setting:
Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), pediatrics, and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in an acute care hospital.
Participants:
Sixty-two licensed nurses, 37 working in the NICU and 25 working in pediatrics or the PICU.
Main Outcome Measures:
Scores for the Necessary and Current scales of the Family-Centered Care Questionnaire.
Results:
Scores representing current nursing practice of family-centered care were significantly lower than those representing its necessity (p = .000). Nurses with 10 years or fewer of neonatal or pediatric experience scored significantly higher on both the total Necessary Scale (p = .02) and total Current Scale (p = .017) than did those with 11 years or more. Nurses who work in the NICU scored significantly lower on the total Necessary Scale (p = .013) than did nurses who work in pediatrics or PICU.
Conclusions:
Although nurses agree the identified elements of family-centered care are necessary, they do not consistently apply those elements in their everyday practice. Years of experience and clinical work setting influenced both perceptions and practices of family-centered care.
Related Concept Videos
Patient-centered Care
Continuing Care
Documentation in Long-Term and Home Healthcare Setting
Long-Term Care Facilities
Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-I
Physicians
The physician's primary responsibility is to diagnose illness and direct the medical or surgical treatment of the condition. The authority to admit patients to a healthcare agency or institution and practice care within that setting is granted to physicians by the healthcare agency or institution itself.
Specialized Care Centers and Settings-I
Daycare centers
They provide several functions. Some facilities care for healthy newborns and children whose parents work, while others are medically focused and care for...
Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-II
Physical Therapist
A physical therapist (PT) aims to restore function or prevent additional impairment in a patient following an injury or disease. Massage, heat, cold, water, sonar waves, exercises, and electrical stimulation are some treatments used by PTs to treat...