Correlates of traditional Chinese medicine nursing service demand among caregivers of hospitalized children: implications for practice optimization

With the growing emphasis on family-centered care in pediatric clinical practice, understanding parents’ perspectives on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) nursing services for hospitalized children is increasingly important. This study aimed to assess the current level of TCM nursing demands among parents and to identify factors significantly associated with these demands, with the goal of providing evidence to support the development of precise and individualized nursing interventions. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in a tertiary children’s hospital. Using convenience sampling, we recruited 348 parents of hospitalized children. Data were collected using a self-developed questionnaire that had been formally validated and demonstrated good reliability and validity. The overall TCM nursing demand among participants was moderately high. Among the three evaluation dimensions, the dimension measuring specific TCM nursing service needs had the highest scoring rate (73.70%). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that age, educational level, residential location, and participation in TCM-related training or lectures were factors independently associated with TCM nursing demand (all P < 0.001), with training participation being the strongest associated factor. The regression model explained approximately 46.9% of the variance in TCM nursing demand ( R = 0.685, R² = 0.469, adjusted R² = 0.457, P < 0.001). Parents of hospitalized children commonly exhibit moderately high TCM nursing needs, which are significantly associated with age, education, residence, and training experience. To enhance pediatric TCM nursing quality, potential strategies may include stratified health education, balanced distribution of TCM resources between urban and rural areas, and improved support systems. These potential strategies require further evaluation and may help address the identified needs and, if confirmed in intervention studies, improve care outcomes.