Nursing students’ beliefs about families in nursing care

Summary for families is a growing part of nurses’ professional work in various health care settings and consequently an important issue for nursing education. One way to determine the readiness for nursing students to meet families is to reveal their beliefs about families. Beliefs can be uncovered through interpretation of conversations, as beliefs are embedded in our stories. The aim of this study was to explore nursing students’ beliefs about families in nursing care. Nine nursing students, three from each year of a three-year programme, were interviewed individually. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. First, a manifest content analysis was performed followed by a latent content analysis in order to reveal underpinning beliefs. The results demonstrate beliefs about families and nurses and their relationship, for example, if family members are close to each other and when the patient is cared for in his/her own home, it reduces suffering for the whole family, and if nurses create a trusting relationship and atmosphere, it fosters the families’ well-being. Although the beliefs uncovered are seen as facilitative ones, educational efforts are essential to implement family nursing both theoretically and practically in curricula throughout the nursing education.