The Importance of Families in Nursing Care: Nurses’ Attitudes in the Hospital Environment

Abstract

Theoretical framework: Nurses’ attitudes towards families are essential to the quality of nursing care, facilitating the health/ disease transition processes experienced by the family in the hospital. Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify the attitudes of nurses in different hospital settings about the importance of including the family in nursing care. Methodology: A quantitative, exploratory and descriptive study was conducted with a convenience sample of 160 nurses from different units in a hospital. This study used a questionnaire, which included a sociodemographic evaluation and the scale Families’ Importance in Nursing Care - Nurses Attitudes (FINC-NA). Results: The results obtained by applying the FINC-NA scale revealed high mean scores. However, the results showed no significant correlations to justify the influence of the analysed variables. Conclusion: Nurses show a high level of agreement about the importance of families in nursing care within the various contexts of care.