Nurses' attitudes to family importance in nursing care: A two-sited cross-sectional study

This study aimed to describe nurses' attitudes and beliefs towards the importance of family in nursing care and explore differences in nurses' attitudes and beliefs towards family-centered care between different healthcare institutions, such as community healthcare centers and hospitals.

Family significantly affects the well-being and health of individuals. Therefore, nurses should support family engagement in nursing care. In recent years, family nursing research has emphasized the importance of teaching family nursing skills in continued education in healthcare institutions. Research has indicated that nurses who believe that illness concerns the family as a whole are more likely to involve the family in patient care.

A cross-sectional research design was used.

Data were collected at one timepoint between March and September 2019 from 425 nurses working at the Primary Health Care Centers of the Capital Area (n=112) and in clinical settings at the University Hospital in Iceland (n=313).

The main findings indicated that nurses working in the women-and-child division at the University Hospital reported significantly more positive attitudes towards family evolvement in patient care than nurses working in the intensive care or surgical units. For nurses working at healthcare centers, a significant difference was also found in the nurses' attitudes towards involving families in patient care. The nurses who were working in home care had significantly more positive attitudes when compared to those working in the infant and young children health promotion units.

Greater collaboration is required between healthcare providers and families to improve the quality of care and health-related outcomes. Therefore, it is crucial to enhance nurses' knowledge about the importance of families during patient care.

This study aimed to describe nurses' attitudes and beliefs towards family care. Differences were found between nurse's attitudes by units but not by institutions.