Better communication needed between parents and children's nurses, researchers say

Communication is vital to partnerships in care between parents and children's nurses but negotiating that care requires a clear definition of roles, research shows.

A translated and validated questionnaire was completed by 444 parents of children admitted to one hospital in Portugal during a 16-month period in 2009 and 2010. 

The majority of parents believed they should always stay with their child in hospital and provide basic care (96 per cent), including being woken during the night to do so (97 per cent).

However, more than a third (36 per cent) thought this might disrupt nurses' routines and 34 per cent felt uncomfortable telling nurses if they did not want to participate in care.

Better-educated parents and those over the age of 30 were more likely to report good communication with the nursing team.

Researchers, who carried out the study in the Hospital Pedro Hispano in Porto, recommended that processes and procedures to enable negotiation between parents and nurses be created and validated in hospitals.

In addition, partnerships in care should be based on effective communication and clear definition of roles in each individual case, based on a child's total needs.