Objective: Aimed to identify the main needs expressed by family caregivers in caring for a dependent person. Method: An integrative review of the literature in the period between 2010 and 2015 using specific search engine tools in the EBSCO and SCOPUS databases. Results: 11 articles were selected, and the analysis of the scientific evidence obtained allowed for organizing the results into five thematic areas: transition into care, being responsible for everything, the importance of support, access to formal support, communication and information processes. Conclusion: The results showed that caregivers have many needs in different areas, which should be addressed in nursing interventions.

Affective, cognitive and behavioral components affect nurses´ attitudes to include families in the care processes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of nurses about the importance of including families in nursing care. Data collection was performed in pediatric and maternal-child unit of a Brazilian university hospital. A sample of 50 nurses completed the Portuguese version of the instrument Families’Importance in Nursing Care-Nurses’ Attitudes (FINC-NA). The results indicated that nurses have supportive attitudes regarding families participation in nursing care. Attitudes of lower support for involving families in nursing care were found among nurses with older age, more time in the profession and who had no previous contact with contents related to Family Nursing. The application of the instrument in other contexts of assistance may help to illuminate important aspects of the challenges to implementing a family-centered approach in clinical practice.

Rev Esc Enferm USP2005; 39(4):391-400.O significado da hospitalização para a criança pré-escolar: um modelo teórico

The purposes of this study were to: understand the dynamic functioning of the family with a child admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and to construct a theoretical model about the living experience of a family with a child admitted to the PICU. The study used as a theoretical reference the Symbolic Interactionism, and the Grounded theory methodology. The comparative analysis of the data permitted identify two phenomena: Having a family rupture and Living with the possibility of loosing a child. The relationship of these phenomena has permitted the identification of the core category TRYING TO PRESERVE THE INTEGRITY OF THE FAMILY UNIT based on which it was possible to propose a theoretical model to explain the experience.

This study aimed to develop the concept of family vulnerability. Data were collected through Qualitative Concept Analysis, which involves two phases. In the first, theoretical phase, data from literature were used for identification of the theoretical attributes of the concept. In the second, field phase, data were collected by means of observations and interviews with twelve families going through the experience of a child's disease and hospitalization. Symbolic Interactionism was used as a theoretical framework, which supported Grounded Theory, applied to guide data collection and analysis in the field phase. As a result of phase II, a theoretical model was built, whose central category defines family vulnerability as FEELING THREATENED IN THEIR AUTONOMY, due to the interactions between family members, illness and health team. The comparison between the two analyses allowed for a theoretical proposition of family vulnerability and advances in terms of theoretical knowledge on family nursing.