Challenges facing newly qualified children’s nurses communicating with parents of hospitalized children

The nurse-parent relationship is considered to be the cornerstone of quality children’s nursing care (Espezel and Canam, 2003). Although this long-standing view is incorporated in the philosophy of family-centred care and widely promoted (Casey, 1995), it is unclear as to how successfully it is practiced. The extent to which nurses are able to communicate effectively with parents of sick children has not been well documented. While several studies in recent years have explored parental involvement in the care of their child (Fenwick et al, 1999; Kirk, 2001; Coyne, 2006) few exam communication as an essential element underpinning such interaction. In addition, few studies highlight the experiences of newly qualified nurses in relation to nurse-parent communication. Further, the congruency between parental expectation of nurse-parent interaction and the nurses’ ability to meet these expectations is even less certain.