Factors Associated With the Perception of Family Nursing Practice Among Mental Health Nurses in Taiwan

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine factors that influenced the perceptions of mental health nurses about involving families in their nursing practice. A sample of 175 Taiwanese mental health nurses who are employed in both inpatient and community settings completed structured questionnaires designed to measure empathy, attitudes about involving families in care, and perceptions of family nursing practice. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's product-moment correlation, t test, one-way ANOVA, and a hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Positive perceptions of family nursing practice were correlated with more years of clinical experience in mental health, empathy, supportive attitudes toward the importance of family nursing care, and personal experiences with family members with serious illness in need of professional care. These findings may assist in the development of effective educational programs designed to help nurses integrate family nursing knowledge and skills in the care of patients and families experiencing mental illness.

Nurses' attitudes regarding the importance of families in nursing care: A cross‐sectional study

“…Nurses attitudes towards involving families in nursing care has been explored in different clinical settings such as paediatrics (Angelo et al, ), obstetric care (Ribeiro, Sousa, Santos, Silva, & Sousa, ), primary health care (Oliveira et al, ), mental health care (Hsiao & Tsai, ), among nurses caring for patients with psychiatric diagnoses (Sveinbjarnardottir, Svavarsdottir, & Saveman, ), in cardiovascular care (Gusdal, Josefsson, Thors Adolfsson, & Martin, ; Luttik et al, ), in surgical units (Blondal et al, ) emergency departments (Linnarsson, Benzein, & Arestedt, ), in critical care units (Hetland, Hickman, McAndrew, & Daly, ; Hetland, McAndrew, Perazzo, & Hickman, ) and among home care nurses and hospital‐employed nurses (Broekema, Luttik, Steggerda, Paans, & Roodbol, ). Generally, the studies found that nurses hold positive attitudes towards family involvement in care (Hsiao & Tsai, ; Linnarsson et al, ; Oliveira et al, ), even without special training in approaches to family inclusion (Ribeiro et al, ). Attending an educational course in a family system nursing approach increased nurses' positive attitudes, and the way they thought about family inclusion changed towards a more collaborative focus and readiness for applying a family system approach in clinical practice (Blondal et al, ; Broekema et al, ; Svavarsdottir et al, ; Sveinbjarnardottir et al, ).…”

How to make carer involvement in mental health inpatient units happen: a focus group study with patients, carers and clinicians

“…the patients, the carers and the clinicians. However, existing studies which have explored how to facilitate carer involvement have mainly focused on clinician opinions and clinician-led models of carer involvement [19, 25–27]. As a result, there is a lack of patient and carer perspectives in the literature, with only one previous study which explored the perspectives of all three groups without focusing specifically on inpatient care [28].…”

Systematic review of measurement properties of instruments assessing nurses’ attitudes towards the importance of involving families in their clinical practice

“…Internal consistency rated as positive, as Cronbach's alphas of the total scale and the practice appraisal and nurse–family relationship subscales were 0.84, 0.85 and 0.73, respectively (Simpson & Tarrant, ). Likewise, in the study conducted by Hsiao and Tsai () , Cronbach's alphas of the total scale and the practice appraisal and nurse–family relationship subscales were 0.92, 0.91 and 0.85, respectively, thus resulting in positive ratings. Test–retest reliability, evaluated with ICC, was greater than 0.70 in the Simpson and Tarrant () study, thus resulting in a positive rating.…”

“…A total of 19 studies were included in this systematic review reporting on the following five instruments used to assess nurses’ attitudes towards the importance of involving families in their clinical practice: Families’ Importance in Nursing Care: Nurses’ Attitudes (FINC‐NA) (Benzein, Johansson, Arestedt, Berg, Johansson, Arestedt, Berg, & Saveman, ; Blöndal et al, ; Hsiao & Tsai, ; Luttik et al, ; Pascual Fernández et al, ) and three further versions of the scale: a revised version (FINC‐NA‐R) (Gusdal, Josefsson, Thors Adolfsson, & Martin, ; Linnarsson, Benzein, & Årestedt, ; Saveman, Benzein, Engström, & Årestedt, ), a short version (FINC‐NA‐S) (Mackie, Marshall, Mitchell, & Ireland, ) and a modified Portuguese version (IFCE‐AE) (Oliveira et al., ). Family Nurse Practice Scale (FNPS) (Hsiao & Tsai, ; Simpson & Tarrant, ). Family Nurse Caring Belief Scale (FNCBS) (Meiers, Tomlinson, & Peden‐McAlpin, ). Family‐Centered Care Questionnaire (FCCQ) (Bruce & Ritchie, ) and a revised version (FCCQ‐R) (Alabdulaziz, Moss, & Copnell, ; Bruce et al, ; Caty, Larocque, & Koren, ; Coyne, Murphy, Costello, O'Neill, & Donnellan, ). Measure of Beliefs about Participation in Family‐Centered Service (MBP‐FCS) (Asai, ; King et al, ). …”

“…The overall dimensionality of the original version of the FINC‐NA was reproduced in the FINC‐NA‐R, which explained 54% of the total variance, thus resulting in a positive rating (Saveman et al, ). Hypothesis testing of the Chinese version was rated as positive because the FINC‐NA showed a correlation greater than 0.50 with the FNPS (Hsiao & Tsai, ).…”