TY - JOUR
T1 - Nursing care for pediatric patients with autism spectrum disorders
T2 - A cross-sectional survey of perceptions and strategies
AU - Mahoney, Wanda J.
AU - Villacrusis, Minerva
AU - Sompolski, Margaret
AU - Iwanski, Brittany
AU - Charman, Alyssa
AU - Hammond, Colleen
AU - Abraham, Gifty
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge Linda Schore, Secretary II, Outpatient and Acute Pediatric Therapy at Advocate Children's Hospital, for administrative assistance, Lindsey Wethington, Washington University occupational therapy student, for assistance with the literature review and data analysis, Amy Stein, PhD, Midwestern University biostatistician, for initial statistical consultation, and the Advocate Children's Hospital Adaptive Care Program Committee for resources that informed the research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC
PY - 2021/10
Y1 - 2021/10
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe nursing staff perspectives about caring for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the hospital, strategies they use to support care, and relationships between these factors. Design and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey design with nursing staff at a large pediatric hospital system in the United States was employed. The researcher-designed, pilot-tested survey assessed participant demographics, knowledge about ASD, perceived effectiveness caring for children with ASD, previous training, and current strategy use. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, correlations, and group comparisons based on interaction frequency with the population and previous training. Results: The participants involved 90 pediatric hospital nursing staff members providing direct care. Respondents demonstrated 90% accurate knowledge of the characteristics of ASD. Self-reported effectiveness in caring for children with ASD did not correlate with knowledge and significantly correlated with an increased number of strategies. Nursing staff with frequent interaction with people with ASD or those with previous training reported significantly more strategies to care for children with ASD. Only 35% of participants reported that they have adequate strategies to care for children with ASD in the hospital. Practice Implications: Having more strategies was the factor associated with higher self-efficacy, so training for nursing staff should focus on increasing the number of strategies to use with children with ASD in the hospital and provide mechanisms to collaborate with other professionals to individualize strategies to meet each child's needs.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe nursing staff perspectives about caring for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the hospital, strategies they use to support care, and relationships between these factors. Design and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey design with nursing staff at a large pediatric hospital system in the United States was employed. The researcher-designed, pilot-tested survey assessed participant demographics, knowledge about ASD, perceived effectiveness caring for children with ASD, previous training, and current strategy use. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, correlations, and group comparisons based on interaction frequency with the population and previous training. Results: The participants involved 90 pediatric hospital nursing staff members providing direct care. Respondents demonstrated 90% accurate knowledge of the characteristics of ASD. Self-reported effectiveness in caring for children with ASD did not correlate with knowledge and significantly correlated with an increased number of strategies. Nursing staff with frequent interaction with people with ASD or those with previous training reported significantly more strategies to care for children with ASD. Only 35% of participants reported that they have adequate strategies to care for children with ASD in the hospital. Practice Implications: Having more strategies was the factor associated with higher self-efficacy, so training for nursing staff should focus on increasing the number of strategies to use with children with ASD in the hospital and provide mechanisms to collaborate with other professionals to individualize strategies to meet each child's needs.
KW - acute care
KW - autism
KW - children
KW - nurses
KW - nursing staff
KW - pediatric hospital
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103384644&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/jspn.12332
DO - 10.1111/jspn.12332
M3 - Article
C2 - 33792139
AN - SCOPUS:85103384644
SN - 1539-0136
VL - 26
JO - Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing
JF - Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing
IS - 4
M1 - e12332
ER -