title: Parental perspectives on negotiation of their child's care in hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To increase understanding of parents' perspectives on the negotiation of care.
  
  
  METHODS
  A translated and validated questionnaire was completed by 444 parents of children admitted over a 16-month period to one hospital in Portugal.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overwhelming majority of participating parents believed that parents should always stay with their child in hospital and provide basic care, including being woken in the night to do so. However, over one third thought that their participation might disrupt the nurses' routines and a similar percentage felt uncomfortable telling nurses if they did not want to participate in care. Parents with higher levels of education and those aged over 30 were more likely to report good communication with the nursing team.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Communication between parents and nurses is essential to partnership in care. Effective negotiation requires a clear definition of nurses' and parents' roles, as well as agreement on the level of participation in care by parents.
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Enfermagem do Porto, Portugal. paula.sousa@esenf.pt
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Antunes
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casey
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D017008:Negotiating; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011174:Portugal