Nurses' perceptions of their relationships with parents

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Nursing
• Healthcare Communication
• Interpersonal Dynamics

Background:

• Parent-nurse relationships are crucial in pediatric care.
• Hospitalized children necessitate effective collaboration between parents and nurses.
• Interpersonal challenges can impede optimal patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the nature of parent-nurse relationships in pediatric settings.
• To identify common types of parent-nurse interactions.
• To understand the difficulties nurses encounter in these relationships.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative descriptive study.
• Interviews with 25 children's nurses.
• Analysis of nurses' descriptions of satisfying and dissatisfying parent relationships.

Main Results:

• Five relationship types identified: negotiated, reciprocal, adversarial, asynchronous, and ineffective.
• Nurses often perceived relationships as social, not professional.
• Nurses reported difficulties in applying communication, conflict management, and family-centered care skills.

Conclusions:

• Parent-nurse relationships are complex and can be challenging.
• Gaps in knowledge or application of therapeutic care skills exist.
• Environmental factors may influence the quality of these interactions.