Family involvement in medical decision-making: Perceptions of nursing and psychology students

מאת: Itzhaki M., Hildesheimer G., Barnoy S., Katz M.
פורסם ב: Nurse Education Today
תיאור: Background: Family members often rely on health care professionals to guide and support them through the decision-makingprocess. Although family involvement in medical decisions should be included in the preservice curriculum for the health care professions, perceptions of students in caring professions on family involvement in medical decision-making have not yet been examined. Objective: To examine the perceptions of nursing and psychology students on family involvement in medical decision-making for seriously ill patients. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. Setting and Participants: First year undergraduate nursing and psychology students studying for their Bachelor of Arts degree were recruited. Methods: Perceptions were assessed with a questionnaire constructed based on the Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT), which examines decision-maker preferences. The questionnaire consisted of two parts referring to the respondent once as the patient and then as the family caregiver. Results: Questionnaires were completed by 116 nursing students and 156 psychology students. Most were of the opinion that family involvement in decision-making is appropriate, especially when the patient is incapable of making decisions. Nursing students were more inclined than psychology students to think that financial, emotional, and value-based considerations should be part of the family's involvement in decision-making. Both groups of students perceived the emotional consideration as most acceptable, whereas the financial consideration was considered the least acceptable. Conclusions: Nursing and psychology students perceive family involvement in medical decision-making as appropriate. In order to train students to support families in the process of decision-making, further research should examine Shared Decision-Making (SDM) programs, which involve patient and clinician collaboration in health care decisions. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd.
SDGs : SDG 03  |  יחידות:   | מועד: 2016 |  קישור