Factorial Structure Associated with Family Support for Nurses to Practice in Child Psychiatric Wards

Abstract

Family support is very significant in the field of child psychiatry. However, it provided by nurses in child psychiatric wards have not yet been established in Japan. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to elucidate the support provided to families by nurses in child psychiatric wards. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 384 nurses in 20 child psychiatric wards, and answered by 246 nurses. Next, the questionnaire about a family support for nurses in child psychiatric wards was created and evaluated. Examination results confirmed the reliability and content validity. Using exploratory factor analysis, it was found that there were three factors in the family supports as follows: direct support for families (11 items), discharge support and interprofessional collaboration (nine items), and explanation and the supplement of diseases or disorders (three items). A one-way repeated measures ANOVA showed that the most practiced support among the three was direct support for families. On the other hand, discharge support and interprofessional collaboration was the least practiced. The two supports were very significant elements in family support for nurses in child psychiatric wards. Therefore, further study is required for a more concrete examination of family support, especially discharge support and interprofessional collaboration. In addition, there is a need to study the supports for the families with a lot of problems, such as mental diseases and low family function.