title: Family centered care within an infant-toddler unit.
abstract: Family centered care (FCC) is an essential component of pediatric nursing. A unit-based FCC Committee was charged with evaluating care on an inpatient infant-toddler unit. The committee adapted the Institute of Family Centered Care survey tools and used them to evaluate parent and staff perceptions of FCC care provided on the unit. The survey tools covered the following areas: environment, nursing care, education, communication, and respect and equality. A convenience sample of 38 parents and 75 staff completed surveys. Families provided significantly more positive responses than the staff did, indicating overall satisfaction with the care received. However, they did identify concerns about educational issues and pain assessment. In contrast, the staff reported more negative perceptions regarding the delivery of FCC, and their primary concern was the unit environment. The FCC Committee used the findings from the survey to first educate the staff and then implement changes to improve the environment and the care delivered.
authors.affiliation: Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, USA.
authors.forename: Annmarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neal
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frost
authors.forename: Janna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gance-Cleveland
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kersten
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004645:Empathy; D022143:Family Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D006757:Hospital Units / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016294:Models, Nursing; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009731:Nursing Audit; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010371:Pediatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires