Comparison of the Quality of Nursing Care as Perceived by Pediatric Nurses and Mothers of Hospitalized Children

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the quality of nursing care as perceived by registered nurses and mothers of hospitalized children in South Korea. Methods: This was a descriptive study that recruited 70 mothers of hospitalized children and 70 nurses in pediatric units in university hospitals as participants. The quality of pediatric nursing care was measured using importance and performance scores for 19 items describing various elements of nursing care. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the independent t-test. Results: The hospitalized children mothers'mean importance scores were significantly higher than those of the nurses (t=2.94, p=.004). However, there were no significant differences in the mean performance scores of nurses and mothers (t=0.91, p=.363) or between nurses'and mothers'perceptions of quality of nursing care, with the exception of a significant difference for the quality of explanations (t=2.78, p=.006). The quality of explanations was assessed more positively by nurses than by mothers. Conclusion: This study suggests that when developing strategies to improve the quality of nursing care in pediatric wards, ensuring that pediatric nurses provide detailed explanations should be considered as a way to improve the quality of nursing care in pediatric units.

Levels of Partnership between Nurses and Parents of Hospitalized Children and the Quality of Pediatric Nursing Care as Perceived by Nurses

“…The score for the quality of pediatric care was calculated as 10 -(importance score × performance score), yielding a total score ranging from 0 to 10, with higher scores corresponding to higher-quality pediatric nursing care. The value of Cronbach's ⍺ was reported to be .94 for importance and .92 for performance [16]. The Cronbach's ⍺ in this study was .92 for importance and .91 for performance.…”

“…The instrument used in this study was the Quality of Care through Patients' Eyes for Hospitalized Children developed by Cho et al [4] for the parents of hospitalized children. This scale was modified by Yoo et al [16] for pediatric nurses and tested for content validity and reliability. In total, 19 items were included: six items focusing on respect, three items on kindness, seven items on explanation, and three items on skillfulness.…”

“…Although domestic and international studies have claimed that family-centered care remains an abstract concept in the actual clinical field [3,5,7,16], nurses' efforts to improve the quality of nursing based on family-centered care are essential in the clinical practice of child nursing. To this end, cooperative partnerships between nurses and families are a vital factor [5,11].…”

“…As such, the directions in which pediatric nurses should focus their efforts to improve the quality of pediatric ward nursing have been confirmed in detail. However, in earlier studies concerning the quality of nursing care in pediatric wards and partnerships with nurses as analyzed by the mothers of inpatient children [22], the quality of nursing care recognized by mothers of hospitalized children [23], and comparisons of the quality of nursing care perceived by the mothers of hospitalized children and the respective nurses [16], there were limitations in terms of examining the quality of nursing and the partnership with hospitalized children's parents from the perspective of nurses.…”

“…The quality of nursing care in pediatric wards depends on purpose-oriented nurses' behavior to promote the well-being of inpatient children and their families [4,24], and perceptions of the quality of care might differ between nursing providers and the recipients of care [16]. Therefore, basic research to confirm the perceptions of nursing providers is necessary.…”