Patient-centered care (PCC) is the prevailing model of care globally. However, most research on PCC has been conducted in Westernized countries or has focused on only two facets of PCC: decision-ma...

Nursing staff are an important source of support for parents of a hospitalized preterm infant. This study aimed to describe parents' and nurses' perceptions of communicating with each other in the context of the special care nursery. A qualitative descriptive design was employed. Thirty two parents with a newborn admitted to one of two special care nurseries in Queensland, Australia participated, and 12 nurses participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews. Nurses and parents focused on similar topics, but their perceptions differed. Provision of information and enabling parenting were central to effective communication, supported by an appropriate interpersonal style by nurses. Parents described difficulties accessing or engaging nurses. Managing enforcement of policies was a specific area of difficulty for both parents and nurses. The findings indicated a tension between providing family-centered care that is individualized and based on family needs and roles, and adhering to systemic nursery policies.

Lawyers experience significant levels of psychological distress. We argue that one reason, which has received insufficient attention from researchers, is their exposure to traumatic material. Our study examined the lived experience of lawyers who are exposed to traumatic material, including the role their organisation and profession play in shaping their experiences. Thirty-five lawyers or barristers, from both the public and the private sector, participated in in-depth interviews about how their exposure to traumatic material affected them, and how their organisation shaped their experiences. Our analysis identified six themes: when material becomes traumatic, fear of stigma, everyday recovery, boundaries through denial and distancing, using social support normatively and making meaning. Our findings identify that lawyers can experience strong emotional reactions to traumatic material, and their experience is influenced by the professional norms and training in law. Moreover, their organisation has an important role in either ameliorating or exacerbating their responses.

Background: Communication is a central part of providing family centred care in neonatal nurseries and is associated with a range of positive outcomes for families. However, previous research has indicated that communication is more problematic between health professionals and minority groups of patients and families, although much of this research is atheoretical. The current study used communication accommodation theory to examine nurses’ perceptions of effective and ineffective interactions with typical parents, culturally and linguistically diverse parents (CALD), and adolescent parents in neonatal nurseries. Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews with nurses from 2 tertiary hospitals in Australia. Twelve nurses from one hospital were asked about interactions with typical parents, and twenty-nine nurses from the other hospital were asked about interactions with CALD and adolescent parents. Interviews were coded for communication strategy and accommodative stance, using a coding system based on communication accommodation theory. Results: Descriptions of interactions with typical parents (who were perceived as Anglo-Australian) differed from those with CALD and adolescent parents. Interactions with CALD parents focused mostly on comprehension and cultural differences, with limited mention of other strategies. Interactions with adolescent parents were regarded as particularly problematic, and involved greater focus on face management than for other groups of parents. Generally, interactions with minority groups were based on a narrower range of strategies, and were more intergroup than interpersonal in focus. Conclusions: Our findings show the importance of studying health professionals’ perceptions of interactions with people from different minority groups. We discuss the implications for our understanding of communicating with diverse patients and families, and educating health professionals, including the utility of communication accommodation theory as a guiding framework for training.