Knowledge Translation in Family Nursing

• Published in: Journal of Family Nursing
• Main Authors: Svavarsdottir, Erla Kolbrun, Tryggvadottir, Gudny Bergthora, Sigurdardottir, Anna Olafia
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2012
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1074840712449202; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1074840712449202; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/1074840712449202

In an effort to examine translation of family nursing knowledge to practice, the Landspitali University Hospital Family Nursing Implementation Project (2007-2011), was thoughtfully initiated in Reykjavik, Iceland and systematically evaluated. The mission was to implement family nursing in every department of the hospital. This publication is the first formal research report from this landmark project. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term therapeutic conversation intervention with families who were receiving health care services at the Children’s Hospital at Landspitali University Hospital in Iceland related to childhood and adolescent acute and chronic illnesses. The therapeutic conversation was guided by Family Systems Nursing and used the Calgary Family Assessment and Intervention Models (Wright & Leahey, 2005, 2009). Families ( N = 76) were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (short-term therapeutic conversation: n = 41) or to a control group (traditional care: n = 35). Parents in the experimental group reported significantly higher family support after the intervention, compared to the parents in the control group. Differences were noted between families experiencing acute versus chronic illnesses. Recommendations are made for conducting and designing intervention research with families experiencing the hospitalization of a child or adolescent.