Nursing Needs and Nursing Performance as Perceived by Caregivers with Hospitalized Children

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify differences between the degree of nursing need and nursing performance as perceived by caregivers of hospitalized children.Methods: Participants included 200 main caregivers from two pediatric hospitals where their children had been hospitalized for at least 2 days.Data were collected from October 30 to December 10, 2014.Results: The degree (2.64 ± 0.40) of nursing performance perceived by caregivers with hospitalized children was found to be significantly lower than that (3.39 ± 0.21) of nursing needs of caregivers.Of nursing needs, direct nursing had the highest score at 3.59, and nursing assessment, the lowest at 3.23.For nursing performance, nursing assessment had the highest score at 2.76, and education and counseling, the lowest at 2.35.Conclusion: These results suggest that performance of nursing activities by nurses caring for hospitalized children do not meet the nursing needs of the caregivers.Therefore it is necessary to develop nursing strategies to reduce the gap between nursing needs and nursing performance.