Support provided by nurses to parents of hospitalized children – cultural adaptation and validation of Nurse Parent Support Tool and initial research results

Abstract

Support provided by nurses to parents of hospitalized childrencultural adaptation and validation of Nurse Parent Support Tool and initial research resultsIntroduction: Child's illness and hospitalisation are difficult and stressful situations both for the patients themselves and for their parents. Supporting the ill child and their guardians is an indispensable element of caring for ill children. The Nurse-Parent Support Model developed by Margaret Miles is based on four elements, namely emotional support, appraisal support, informational support and instrumental support. Aim: The aim of the research was (i) cultural adaptation and validation of The Nurse-Parent Support Tool into Polish and (ii) initial assessment of parents' perception of nursing support given to the parents of children hospitalised in five paediatric wards in Poland. Material and method: Quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted in a group of 195 parents of children hospitalised in five different hospital wards in eastern Poland. Results and conclusions: Theoretical validity of the fourfactor version of NPST is proved by the correlation matrix analysis and inter-correlation between the dimensions of the described tool as well as the analysis of the internal structure of the test verified on the basis of its internal validity which also confirms its reliability. However, theoretical validity of the test is not confirmed by the factor analysis whose results indicate that the tool encompasses two factors that explain 58.5% of variances. Respondents rated instrumental support provided by the nurses the highest, appraisal and informational support were rated slightly lower, and emotional support was rated the lowest. Negative correlation between the level of stress and emotional support (r = À0.35), informational support (r = À0.29) and support in general (r = À0.30) was demonstrated. Polish four-factor version of NPST is recommended only for international comparative analyses, whereas the use of two-factor version of NPST is recommended for national research programmes. The level of support given to the parents of children hospitalised in Poland seems to be unsatisfactory.

Support provided by healthcare professionals to the mothers of newborns in the neonatal unit

“…In the study, the subscale Support for Communication and Information obtained the lowest average, similar to studies developed in USA 21 , Poland 22 , and Turkey 23 in which this item also obtained low scores. This shows weakness in the team's communication relationship with mothers and a gap in the quality of care provided, emphasizing the need to continue applying the PNH guidelines in Brazilian health services [24][25][26] .…”

“…Emotional Support was well evaluated and ranked second in the NPST subscales, in contrast to other studies in the USA 21 and Poland 22 , in which it was poorly evaluated. However, a study developed in China obtained a result similar to that found in the present study, which may represent a cultural difference about the care provided by the nursing staff to mothers or about the mothers' perception of emotional support 31 .…”

Internal consistency and accuracy of Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL-40) in mothers of healthy children and those with a medical history

“…Due to the low value of Cronbach's alpha, an attempt to verify items that constitute the ISEL-40 v.GP was made to improve internal consistency of the entire scale and its subscales. Revision of the items that make up the scale and the removal of 8 items of the tool (1,4,6,8,22,24,36,40) only slightly improved its internal consistency (α=0.87). In the case of the Tangible support subscale, no removal of any items improved the internal consistency of the tool (α=0.79).…”

“…Research results suggest that supporting interventions ought to be aimed mainly at mothers [23]. Nevertheless, some research indicates that there is no link between the gender of the researched individuals and their perception of support provided by nursing staff [24].…”

Cuidar de enfermagem às famílias de crianças e adolescentes hospitalizados

“…25 However, it was found by a study carried out in Poland, assessing the perception of parents of hospitalized children about the nursing care provided to them, that the family members considered the instrumental support given by nurses as unsatisfactory. 26 It is warned that, in Brazil, there is familycentered care in pediatric health institutions, but lacking major expression, so, in the hospital environment, there is a predominance of isolated actions taken by practitioners who give attention to the family because they are emotionally moved by its situation. 25 Thus, the family-centered care approach shows to be needed in vocational education courses, either at High School technical education, undergraduate, and graduate levels, and/or in refresher courses, offering curricular components on the theme and presenting the positive impacts that this knowledge brings to professional practice.…”