AN EXPLORATION OF FACTORS INFLUENCING INPATIENT NURSES’ CARE BEHAVIOURS IN ACUTE HOSPITAL SETTING

Abstract

Background: Globally, more than 2 million children undergo surgical procedures in a year. Surgery is an emotionally overwhelming experience for both parent and child. As the main caregivers, parents play a major role in preparing their child for surgery. However, knowledge of parental perceptions on their preparation of their child has been limited. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of parents on their preparation of their child for surgery. Study Design: A descriptive qualitative study design was adopted. Methods: Sixteen parents of children who were undergoing elective surgery in a public tertiary hospital in Singapore were recruited using purposive sampling. Using a semi-structured interview guide, all interviews were conducted either through the telephone or face-to-face on the day of surgery. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings: Five themes were derived from 23 subthemes: assumed roles of parents, factors facilitating preparation of child for surgery, challenges when preparing child for surgery, concerns and considerations during preparation of child for surgery and desire for further support and needs. While preparing their child for surgery, parents undertake several roles including ensuring their child’s readiness for surgery. Factors such as their child having a positive mentality towards the surgery help to facilitate the preparation while parents may face challenges such as fear and nervousness towards the surgery. Parents may have concerns regarding surgery such as their child’s postoperative care. Parents may also require further support such as needing more preparatory information from the hospital. Conclusion: This study provided a greater understanding of the perceptions and needs of parents when preparing their child for surgery. The study findings can be used to improve current healthcare practices and Background: The caring behaviours demonstrated by nurses play a significant role in impacting both patients’ and nurses’ health. However, nurses face difficulties performing patient-centred care during their daily routine and there are limited studies examining the influencing factors of nurses’ caring behaviours. Aims: The study aims to examine factors influencing nurses’ caring behaviour in an acute hospital in Singapore. Methods: A prospective descriptive correlational study was employed. 167 registered nurses were recruited from an acute hospital in Singapore, by convenience sampling, between October and November 2017. The Caring Behaviour Inventory-24 (CBI-24) instrument was used to assess nurses’ perception of their caring behaviours. Results: Descriptive and inferential statistics were generated during data analysis. Results yielded a mean CBI score of 123.11 out of 144. This revealed that nurses had a positive perception of their caring behaviours. The significant factors found to be influencing nurses’ perception of their caring behaviours were age, nationality, ethnicity, religion, education level and total working experience. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study provided valuable evidences on the influencing factors affecting nurses’ perception of their caring behaviours. Implications: It was suggested for healthcare organisations to expand their educational resources to educate nurses on the importance of patient-centred care in order to improve overall nursing experiences. This information could guide healthcare professionals and policy makers in implementing appropriate interventions to promote nurses’ caring behaviours. Future research should also include qualitative approaches to enhance the findings. In addition, patients’ perspective pertaining to nurses’ caring behaviours should be examined to ensure congruency in the perceptions of both nurses and patients. This would help to better capture the caring behaviours of nurses in a multi-cultural environment.