Service Climate and Nurses' Collaboration with Families of Older Patients in the Care Process during Hospitalization.

This study focuses on the concrete role of the presence of a ward's service climate in cultivating nurses' collaboration with family members. Accordingly, this study examined the moderating role of the service climate in the link between nurses' attitudes toward the family and their collaboration with family members in the care process. This is the second article of a series of studies we conducted among health staff in Israeli public hospitals. Relying on the patient- and family-centered care approach and using a cross-sectional study of 179 nurses from 13 internal medicine, surgical and geriatric wards at a large public hospital in Israel, we conducted a multiple regression analysis to test the contribution of all relationship variables to predicting nurses' collaborative behavior with the family in the care process during elderly hospitalization. The findings indicate that service climate had a conditional moderating effect on the relationship between nurses' perception of the family as a burden and their collaboration with the family in nursing care. Namely, in the absence of a targeted service climate, nurses form perceptions about the families as a burden, which in turn affects their distinct non-collaboration, and vice versa.

Factors Predicting Older Patients' Family Involvement by Nursing Staff in Hospitals: The View of Hospital Nurses in Israel.

According to the family-centered approach, the involvement of family in the care of hospitalized older patients is a crucial element of quality care. Active involvement of family in care by the nursing staff depends on different factors, including attitudes towards the importance of family in the care and perception of the interactions with the family. This study aims to identify the factors predicting staff behavior of involving the family in the care process. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 179 nursing staff at a hospital, using a self-report questionnaire examining staff attitudes towards the importance of family in care, the perception of the interactions with the family (family behavior, communication and conflicts), and staff behavior toward family involvement. The findings point out the importance that staff attitudes have on their behavior in the active involvement of family in the care of older patients. Staff behavior of family involvement was predicted by their perceptions of the family (as conversational partners and having their own resources), less conflicts with the family, and staff academic education. Staff behavior toward family is influenced by their attitude and staff-family relationships. Educational programs should emphasize the importance of family, as well as dealing with conflicts.