Factors influencing nurse-to-parent communication in culturally sensitive pediatric care: a qualitative study

The experience of transition from student nurse to registered nurse among newly graduated nurses in the paediatric setting: An integrative literature review

AIM

This integrative review explores the transition to practice experiences of graduate nurses working in either acute or non-acute paediatric settings across different countries.

BACKGROUND

Graduate nurses frequently experience feelings of inadequacy, uncertainty, increased accountability, and workload pressures during their transition, particularly in paediatric settings. However, research specifically examining their experiences in paediatric healthcare is limited, with most studies focusing on broader nursing contexts. This highlights a gap in understanding the unique challenges graduate nurses face in paediatric nursing.

DESIGN

Integrative literature review.

METHOD

The review commenced in January 2023 and was updated in October 2023. Data were collected from Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus using search terms such as "new* graduate* nurse* " AND "experience" AND "transition to practice" OR "work readiness" AND "p?ediatric setting* ". Inclusion criteria focused on primary studies published after 2000 that examined the transition experiences of graduate nurses in paediatric settings. Nine studies meeting these criteria were assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.

RESULTS

From 2954 articles, nine met the inclusion criteria. Most studies were qualitative (n = 8), with one using mixed methods. Thematic analysis identified three key themes: transition experience, challenges faced by graduate nurses, and supportive factors during transition.

CONCLUSIONS

This review highlights the unique challenges graduate nurses face in paediatric nursing and emphasises the need for targeted support post-qualification. The findings provide valuable insights for healthcare administrators to develop tailored strategies and interventions to improve graduate nurses' transitions, retention, and paediatric nursing practice in dynamic healthcare environments.

Association between nurse-child communication and family caregivers' global ratings to hospital: a retrospective study

PURPOSE

Effective nurse-child communication is a fundamental aspect of delivering pediatric nursing care. Family caregivers' global ratings to hospital are considered a proxy-reported measure for assessing a child's inpatient stay experience. We investigate the associations between nurse-child communication and family caregivers' global ratings to hospital.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A retrospective analysis of a national child patient experience survey data was conducted. Patient experience with nurse-child communication and the family caregivers' global ratings of hospital were measured using the Child Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. Hierarchical linear models were constructed to examine the association between nurse-child communication measures and family caregivers' global ratings to hospital.

RESULTS

Data from 1010 patients at six National Regional Centers for Pediatric in China were collected. The overall rating of hospitals and the willingness to recommend the hospital showed increasing trends as the nurse-child communication score increased. How often nurses encourage children to ask questions was significantly associated with family caregivers' overall ratings of hospital and the family caregivers' willingness to recommend the hospital.

CONCLUSIONS

Effective communication by nurses with the child is associated with significantly higher global ratings to the hospital by family caregivers during inpatient care. Encouraging children to ask questions is a promising contributor to caregivers' global ratings to hospital.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Pediatric nurses should emphasis encouraging children to ask questions for effective communication in nursing practice. Future research is also needed to develop more targeted strategies to assist pediatric nurse to communicate with child better.

School Nurses' Language Needs When Caring for Students from Limited English Proficiency Households

The number of school-aged students with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds is increasing across the United States. This survey identifies strategies school nurses use for communicating to families with limited English proficiency and describes recommendations to improve language needs. The online survey was completed by K-12 school nurses and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Among the 52 participants, only 23% (n = 12) indicated that resources they were currently using to interpret health information always met their language needs, with the most common resource described as school personnel who can speak the language needed for interpretation. To improve communication, most (73%; n = 38) participants described preferences for in-person resources and estimated that if on-demand interpreter resources were readily available, they would use on-demand resources for approximately 3.6 hours per week. By improving linguistic and cultural competencies among students and families with limited English proficiency, school nurses can improve student health outcomes.

Competing Tensions: Nurse Perceptions of Family-Centered Care and Parents' Needs in Neonatal Care

BACKGROUND

Family-centered care is founded upon collaboration between parents and healthcare professionals, caring for a child and parents as one entity. The unfamiliar neonatal environment and complexity of care can make family-centered care challenging.

PURPOSE

To explore neonatal nurses' perceptions of family-centered care and parents' cultural needs.

METHODS

This was a qualitative descriptive study using interviews to gather data from registered nurses, and analyzed using inductive content analysis.

RESULTS

Ten neonatal nurses participated in online interviews, lasting an average of 25 minutes. Parents' cultural needs were poorly understood and assumed synonymous with family-centered care. While all acknowledged the importance of family-centered care, most described tasks to parent-infant bonding, rather than a broader embodiment of family-centered care. In time of uncertainty, emergent clinical priorities took priority over a family-centered approach to care. Cultural care was poorly understood, and care tasks associated with supporting parent-infant bonding suggest further work is necessary to promote embodiment of family-centered care beyond individual tasks. While emergent clinical priorities and neonate well-being will always be the priority, finding a way to respond that concords with the ethos of family-centered care is also essential.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE AND RESEARCH

Clear and consistent leadership is needed to demonstrate greater embodiment of family-centered care, which includes cultural care for parents. Strong leadership and targeted education are key to supporting this change. Further research is warranted to examine and observe practice, in particular how parents' cultural needs are assessed and integrated into family-centered care in neonatal settings.

The perspectives of parents and healthcare professionals towards parental needs and support from healthcare professionals during the first two years of children's lives

PURPOSE

The first two years of a child's life have been found to be crucial for optimal growth and development. Support from healthcare professionals is especially important during this period. This study explored the perspectives of parents with children aged 0-2 years and healthcare professionals concerning parental needs and support provided by healthcare professionals.

METHODS

A qualitative research approach was adopted, which comprised semi-structured interviews with parents (N = 25) and focus group discussions with parents (N = 4) and healthcare professionals (N = 3). The data was analysed using the principles of inductive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Overall, we found that parents preferred support that was tailored to their personal needs and practices. Building a trusting relationship between healthcare professionals and parents was also found to be important. The healthcare professionals recognized many of the parents' experiences. Some expressed that they felt bound to adhere to professional guidelines, which hindered them to provide customized support.

CONCLUSIONS

Recommendation for establishing tailored support and trust are self-disclosure by professionals, addressing possible misconceptions openly, and showing interest in someone's considerations or family and cultural customs. Further research into how professional support for parents can be improved is recommended.

Language barriers between nurses and patients: A scoping review

OBJECTIVE

Global migration and linguistic diversity are at record highs, making healthcare language barriers more prevalent. Nurses, often the first contact with patients in the healthcare system, can improve outcomes including safety and satisfaction through how they manage language barriers. This review aimed to explore how research has examined the nursing workforce with respect to language barriers.

METHODS

A systematic scoping review of the literature was conducted using four databases. An iterative coding approach was used for data analysis. Study quality was appraised using the CASP checklists.

RESULTS

48 studies representing 16 countries were included. Diverse healthcare settings were represented, with the inpatient setting most commonly studied. The majority of studies were qualitative. Coding produced 4 themes: (1) Interpreter Use/Misuse, (2) Barriers to and Facilitators of Quality Care, (3) Cultural Competence, and (4) Interventions.

CONCLUSION

Generally, nurses noted like experiences and applied similar strategies regardless of setting, country, or language. Language barriers complicated care delivery while increasing stress and workload.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

This review identified gaps which future research can investigate to better support nurses working through language barriers. Similarly, healthcare and government leaders have opportunities to enact policies which address bilingual proficiency, workload, and interpreter use.

Quantifying the Language Barrier-A Total Survey of Parents' Spoken Languages and Local Language Skills as Perceived by Different Professions in Pediatric Palliative Care

To date, there are no specific figures on the language-related characteristics of families receiving pediatric palliative care. This study aims to gain insights into the languages spoken by parents, their local language skills and the consistency of professional assessments on these aspects. Using an adapted version of the “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages”, the languages and local language skills of parents whose children were admitted to an inpatient pediatric palliative care facility (N = 114) were assessed by (a) medical staff and (b) psychosocial staff. Nearly half of the families did not speak the local language as their mother tongue. The most frequently spoken language was Turkish. Overall, the medical staff attributed better language skills to parents than the psychosocial staff did. According to them, only 27.0% of mothers and 38.5% of fathers spoke the local language at a high level while 37.8% of mothers and 34.6% of fathers had no or rudimentary language skills. The results provide important information on which languages pediatric palliative care practitioners must be prepared for. They sensitize to the fact that even within an institution there can be discrepancies between the language assessments of different professions.

Cultural sensitivity in paediatric nursing care: a concept analysis using the Hybrid method

BACKGROUND

Cultural sensitivity is a core concept to establish awareness and knowledge about various ethnicities, cultures, genders and additional diversity characteristics to understand individual's requests and respond appropriately to them. A need for further development of the concept is warranted, especially in the context of paediatric nursing.

AIMS

The purpose of this paper was to determine the main elements of cultural sensitivity in the context of paediatric nursing in Iran.

METHODS

The Hybrid method was implemented consisting of three phases: theoretical, fieldwork and final analysis. In the theoretical phase, articles from 2007 to 2017 were reviewed for relevance. In the phase of fieldwork, 25 nurses and nine parents were interviewed to explore the aspects of cultural sensitivity in paediatric nursing. The interviews were transcribed, and content analysis was conducted. In the final phase, an overall analysis of the two previous phases was performed.

RESULTS

In the theoretical phase, the following attributes were determined: cultural encounter and awareness, acceptance of cultural diversity and designing programmes in accordance with family culture. The fieldwork phase explored three themes of intercultural encounters, intercultural communication and adapting the care plan with family culture. The final synthesis yielded that sensitivity to family requests and beliefs, effective intercultural communication and integration of family culture with the care plan are the main elements of cultural sensitivity in Iranian paediatric nursing.

CONCLUSION

With a deeper understanding of the term cultural sensitivity, nurses will have a foundation to improve paediatric nursing care and align the care plan with the patient's culture to provide trust, child/parent participation, secure care, effective communication and satisfaction. Since the concepts are the building blocks that underpin theory, the present concepts identified can help to serve as the foundation for the development of a theoretical model.