Relationship-based care model in paediatrics: A randomized controlled trial to implement the parents' perception of the quality of nursing care.

AIM: To evaluate whether the application of the Relationship-based care model as a new treatment, called "Take 5 min", affects the level of anxiety, depression, and perceived quality of nursing care of parents of paediatric patients and the work satisfaction of the nursing staff. DESIGN: Single-blind randomized controlled trial. METHODS: The trial was performed from February-July 2016. The trial was conducted with one intervention (N = 101) and one control group (N = 90). Nurses applied the treatment named "Take 5 Minutes", which consisted of dedicating some short time (from 5 to 10 min) to the relationship with the parents using specifically designed communication strategies. The primary outcome was the evaluation of anxiety and depression of parents; the secondary was the parent perceived quality of nursing care. RESULTS: In the experimental group, participants had a lower level of anxiety and depression and highlighted that the effect of the "Take 5 Minutes" was proportional to the initial seriousness of parents' anxiety and depression. Higher scores for the perception of the quality of care were given from the parents of the experimental group. CONCLUSION: The "Take 5 Minutes" treatment offered to parents of paediatric patients demonstrated significant improvements in terms of their anxiety, depression, and perceived quality of nursing care. IMPACT: Caregivers of paediatric patients are subject to psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety. The communication by the nursing community is of fundamental importance in the management of anxiety and depression in the caregivers of hospitalized patients. Caregivers who received the "Take 5 Minutes" treatment demonstrated a significant decrease in anxiety and depression compared with the control group caregivers. The perceived level of quality of nursing care showed a significant increase in the group of caregivers who received the T5M treatment. The RBC model does not require extra costs for health organizations and can be applied during the usual practice of care. Practices such as T5M could become part of paediatric patient care guidelines and nurses should be trained to apply them. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Padua Research: ID No. 10,034; ClinicalTrials.gov: ID No. NCT04199429.

Perceived aggression towards nurses: study in two Italian health institutions.

AIMS: The goal of the present study was to quantify the perceived aggression towards nurses working in two Italian health care institutions and to verify the hypothesis of an association between the characteristics of aggressors and the type of aggression. BACKGROUND: Violence and aggressiveness, particularly aimed at nurses, are a common, but inadequately investigated phenomenon in Italian health care institutions. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. METHODS: The study was performed, studying a sample of 700 nurses (37% of the personnel in 94 units) in two health care institutions in northeast Italy using an anonymous multiple-choice questionnaire. RESULTS: Forty-nine percent of the nurses responded that they had experienced aggression in the previous year, 82% of that was only verbal. This happened more often to female nurses working in the emergency department and in geriatric and psychiatric units. A statistically significant association (p < 0.001) was found between the perception of fatigue, stress and work dissatisfaction and the frequency of aggression. Aggressors were usually patients or their relatives (57%) and were mainly men (66%). Fifty-three percent of assaulted nurses did not ask for help after the event. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the high incidence of perceived, mainly verbal aggression towards nurses. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Action to prevent aggressive episodes may include concentrating on job motivation, encouraging participatory leadership and promoting the best possible working conditions. The absence of any systematic event reporting and documentation makes the assaulted workers feel defenceless.