What Are You Doing to My Child? A Novel Approach to Family Teaching in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) nurses are challenged to support and promote a model of family-centered care. This model places families at the center of the health care delivery system.^1,2  A key element of family-centered care is empowering parents and families to participate in their child’s care.^2,3  The focus on the key role parents have in providing support to their hospitalized child began in the 1970s.²  The concept evolved gradually during the 1980s, impeded by the perception that fostering parent participation in a child’s care stemmed from “nurses who were not doing their job.” Furthermore, some nurses were hesitant to accept that parents are the experts with their children, capable of partnering in complex care delivery (T. Pasek, unpublished data, 1991). Now, family-centered care is a popular and pervasive evidence-based care delivery model. Yet, how do nurses facilitate parent engagement in care without...