Effectiveness of Family-Centered Care Training on Maternal Anxiety in Pediatric Wards

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19402222

Abstract

Background: Hospitalization of a child could be very stressful to the mother that may lead to high levels of anxiety that can be interfering with parental coping and child recovery. Family-Centered Care (FCC) is an evidence-based nursing model that focuses on involving the healthcare provider and the family members in the collaboration with the purpose of satisfying the physical, emotional, and informational needs of a child and their family. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Family-Centered Care training to nurses on the level of anxiety among mothers of children admitted to the hospital in a pediatric ward at a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Methodology: A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design was employed. The study was done in Karachi Pakistan. Convenience sampling was used in recruiting 30 nurses and 60 mothers. Maternal anxiety pre-intervention was measured by the help of a standardized questionnaire. Nurses were exposed to two days of intensive FCC training program, which was concentrated on communication, emotional support, and mother involvement in childcare. After the application of FCC practices, post-intervention maternal anxiety was assessed. The SPSS version 26 was used to analyze the data, and the descriptive statistics and independent t-tests were employed to assess the differences in anxiety scores. Findings: Mothers were found to score an average of 58.42 with a standard deviation of 6.31 on anxiety before the intervention. The average score also dropped significantly after the intervention to 44.16 along with a standard deviation of 5.28 (t = 9.82, p = 0.001). Conclusion: The FCC training program was positive to lower the level of maternal anxiety and to underline the necessity of nurse-led interventions and active parent-involvement into pediatric care.