Nurses' and Families' perceptions and practices and factors influencing the implementation of family-centred care for hospitalised children and their families.

Aims And Objectives: To explore the perceptions of family-centred care among nurses and the family members of hospitalised children and investigate the facilitators of and barriers to the implementation of family-centred care in Malawi.

Background: In Malawi, approximately 34% of children have long-term illnesses that require hospitalisation. Family-centred care ensures that the delivery of healthcare is grounded in partnerships between healthcare providers, patients and their families, which can improve the psychological well-being of families. However, there is lack a good understanding of how families and nurses perceive this concept, its facilitators and the barriers.

Design: This was an exploratory qualitative study. Data were analysed deductively and inductively using the five-step qualitative content analysis method.

Methods: Twenty-nine nurses and 31 families were recruited. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured and face-to-face individual interviews. The study was reported using the COREQ checklist.

Results: Both nurses and families of hospitalised children recognised the importance of nurse-family partnerships in family-centred care. Four themes emerged as follows: Perceptions of family-centred care, elements of family-centred care, facilitators of family-centred care and barriers to family-centred care. Specific information to families and the religious beliefs of families were identified as important facilitator and barrier to family-centred care, respectively.

Conclusion: The implementation of family-centred care is promising in Malawi, as it is positively perceived by nurses and families, and its implementation is consistent with the Institute for Patient and Family-Centred Care Framework.

Relevance To Clinical Practice: Our findings present the best practices, gaps and challenges in the context of a low-income country regrading implementation of family-centred care. Education programmes on family-centred care are crucial for sustaining the current gains.