Family caregivers’ perceived level of collaboration with hospital nurses: a cross-sectional study

Aim: To describe the extent of perceived collaboration between family caregivers of older persons and hospital nurses.
Background: Collaboration between hospital nurses and family caregivers is of increasing importance in older patient’s care. Research lacks a specific focus on family caregiver’s collaboration with nurses.
Method: Using a cross-sectional design, 302 caregivers of older patients (≥ 70 years) completed the 20-item Family Collaboration Scale with the subscales: trust in nursing care, accessible nurse, and influence on decisions. Date were analyzed with descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations.
Results: Family caregivers rated their level of trust in nurses and nurses’ accessibility higher than the level of their influence on decisions. Family caregivers who had more contact with nurses perceived higher levels of influence on decisions (p ≤ .001) and overall collaboration (p ≤ .001).
Conclusion: Family caregivers’ collaboration with nurses can be improved, especially in recognizing and exploiting family caregivers as partner in the care for older hospitalized persons and regarding their level of influence on decisions.
Implications for Nursing Management: Insight into family caregivers’ collaboration with nurses will help nurse managers to jointly
develop policy with nurses on how to organize more family caregiver’ involvement in the standard care for older persons.