Family centred care in the paediatric high dependency unit: Parents' and Staff's perceptions

Aim: This study explored parent and staff perceptions of family centred care (FCC) within a paediatric high dependency in one New Zealand hospital. Background: FCC is a partnership approach to healthcare delivery where the child's treatment is aligned to the family's needs. Despite widespread endorsement of FCC, variations between parents and staff in healthcare settings continues to be evident. Method: A descriptive qualitative cross-sectional design was used with a convenience sample where written responses for one open ended question from 91 parents and 66 staff resident with their child or working within a paediatric high dependency unit in New Zealand. Results: The parents' responses generated three themes (family, treatment and relationships) and the staff's responses generated two themes (family and treatment). Conclusion: Whilst there were similarities in describing the meaning of family centred care between parents and staff, their views on the central focus of this differed.