Perceptions of female Saudi undergraduate nursing students toward family-centered care

Background: While family-centered care is considered a vital part of nursing care, nursing students seem to struggle in incorporating family-centered care in the clinical setting. Several factors such as minimal exposure in family interactions throughout their clinical practice, lack of experience in organizing family-centered clinical experiences, access to restricted clinical areas, and inadequate supervision from clinical instructors present as challenges among nursing students in practicing family-centered care. Objectives: This study explored the perceptions of nursing students toward family-centered care in Saudi Arabia. Design: This study used the quantitative approach through the cross-sectional survey method. Settings: The study was conducted in the Faculty of Nursing of a government university in Saudi Arabia. Participants: A total population sample comprising 232 female junior and student nurses participated in the study. Methods: After the approval of the Ethical Board Committee had been secured, a survey containing a demographic information sheet and the Family-Centered Care Questionnaire was distributed to the students from June 2018 to February 2019. Results: The overall mean of the students' responses in the questionnaire was 3.76 (SD = 0.67, range = 3.40–4.08), indicating a modest perception toward family-centered care. The dimension “family is the constant” received the most positive response from the students (M = 3.90, SD = 0.77), whereas the dimension “parent-to-parent support” was rated the lowest with a mean of 3.64 (SD = 0.89). Junior nursing students had more positive perception toward family-centered care than the seniors. Weak negative correlations were observed between students' age and family-centered care perception. Conclusions: This study provides insights into family-centered care, which could be used in crafting policies and interventions in various health care settings and nursing education in Saudi Arabia. Such insights could foster positive perceptions toward family-centered care among student nurses and guarantee excellent family-centered care nursing practice.