Biomaterial Database

Nurses' perceptions of individualized care: an international comparison. 2011

Riitta Suhonen, and Evridiki Papastavrou, and Georgios Efstathiou, and Chryssoula Lemonidou, and Maria Kalafati, and Maria Deolinda Antunes da Luz, and Ewa Idvall, and Agneta Berg, and Rengin Acaroglu, and Merdiye Sendir, and Nevin Kanan, and Valmi D Sousa, and Jouko Katajisto, and Maritta Välimäki, and Helena Leino-Kilpi

Principal Investigator Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Finland. suhonen.riitta@kolumbus.fi

OBJECTIVE This paper is a report of a study of internationally-based differences in nurses' perceptions of individualized care in orthopaedic surgical in-patient wards. BACKGROUND Individualized care is valued in healthcare policy, practice and ethical statements as an indicator of care quality. However, nurses' assessments of individualized care are limited and comparative cross-cultural studies on individualized nursing care are lacking. METHODS A descriptive comparative survey was used to sample orthopaedic surgical nurses (n = 1163) working in 91 inpatient wards in 34 acute hospitals in Finland, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America. Data were collected between March and November 2009 using the Individualized Care Scale-Nurse and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS Nurses in different countries perceived that they supported patients' individuality generally and provided individualized care during nursing activities. Although the highest scores were in support of patients' individuality in the clinical situation both through nursing provision and nurses' perceptions of individuality, there were between-country differences within these scores. Generally, the Greek and American nurses gave the highest scores and the Turkish, Cypriot and Portuguese nurses the lowest. CONCLUSIONS Between-country differences found may be attributed to differing roles of nurses, care processes, healthcare systems and/or the ways nursing care is defined and organized. As this was the first time the Individualized Care Scale-Nurse was used in an international context, the results are formative and indicate the need to continue studies in this area.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007206	Individuality	Those psychological characteristics which differentiate individuals from one another.	Individual Differences,Difference, Individual,Differences, Individual,Individual Difference
D008297	Male		Males
D009723	Nurse-Patient Relations	Interaction between the patient and nurse.	Nurse Patient Relations,Nurse Patient Relationship,Nurse Patient Relationships,Nurse-Patient Relation,Patient Relations, Nurse,Patient Relationship, Nurse,Patient Relationships, Nurse,Relations, Nurse Patient,Relations, Nurse-Patient,Relationship, Nurse Patient,Relationships, Nurse Patient
D009741	Nursing Staff, Hospital	Personnel who provide nursing service to patients in a hospital.	Hospital Nursing Staff,Hospital Nursing Staffs,Nursing Staffs, Hospital,Staff, Hospital Nursing,Staffs, Hospital Nursing
D010347	Patient Care Planning	Usually a written medical and nursing care program designed for a particular patient.	Nursing Care Plans,Goals of Care,Plans, Nursing Care,Care Goal,Care Goals,Care Plan, Nursing,Care Planning, Patient,Care Plans, Nursing,Nursing Care Plan,Plan, Nursing Care,Planning, Patient Care
D011795	Surveys and Questionnaires	Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions.	Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D002983	Clinical Competence	The capability to perform acceptably those duties directly related to patient care.	Clinical Skills,Competence, Clinical,Clinical Competency,Clinical Skill,Competency, Clinical,Skill, Clinical,Skills, Clinical,Clinical Competencies,Competencies, Clinical
D003431	Cross-Cultural Comparison	Comparison of various psychological, sociological, or cultural factors in order to assess the similarities or diversities occurring in two or more different cultures or societies.	Transcultural Studies,Comparison, Cross-Cultural,Comparisons, Cross-Cultural,Cross Cultural Comparison,Cross-Cultural Comparisons,Studies, Transcultural,Study, Transcultural,Transcultural Study
D005060	Europe	The continent north of AFRICA, west of ASIA and east of the ATLANTIC OCEAN.	Northern Europe,Southern Europe,Western Europe
D005260	Female		Females