Background And Objectives: There is increasing emphasis on the importance of patient and family engagement for improving patient safety. Our purpose in this study was to understand health care team perspectives on parent-provider safety partnerships for hospitalized US children to complement a parallel study of parent perspectives.
Methods: Our research team, including a family advisor, conducted semistructured interviews and focus groups of a purposive sample of 20 inpatient pediatric providers (nurses, patient care technicians, physicians) in an acute-care pediatric unit at a US urban tertiary hospital.
This study explored parents' perspectives regarding their involvement in safety for their hospitalized children. We employed qualitative description and semistructured interviews of parents of children in an urban tertiary hospital ward. Content analysis revealed 4 parent themes: risks to child safety and comfort, hospital role as a protector, participation in safety varies by individual and organizational factors, and balancing safety with "speaking up" interpersonal risks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis third article in a series on the critical issue of the transition from pediatric to adult care for young adults with complex chronic conditions offers resources, including information about exemplary programs, to pediatric nurses. Three hospital-based programs are highlighted, four key Internet resources are identified, and five relevant articles are annotated. This information can support pediatric nurses in considering transition support options for individual teens and their families as well as in developing resources and designing programs in their own settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis article is the second in a series addressing the critical issue of the transition from pediatric to adult care for young adults with complex chronic conditions. Using the analogy of her daughter's recent transition from high school to college, the author highlights some of the needs of young adults and their families in a transition process. Then, drawing upon her years of experience in the field, she explains why the core principles of patient- and family-centered care are foundational to successful transitioning from pediatric to adult health care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe development of trusting, caring, boundaried, mutual relationships between staff, patients, and families in health care settings demands a set of staff skills that reflect an understanding of the perspective of patient/family as well as one's colleagues. When nurse leaders collaborate with families in teaching nurses, they offer a powerful means of gaining an understanding of the complexities inherent in the health care partnership. This shared nurse leader/family approach to education provides an opportunity to apply relationship principles to real life care situations and creates a forum for discussion of the various perspectives.
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