The general purpose of this project is to examine the effects of information on patients' family structure on the quality and effectiveness of nursing care. This project will examine the effects of information about patients' family structure on how nurses (a) interpret patient characteristics and behavior, and (b) respond to patients. This project will not only include investigation of the presence of family structure stereotypes but also the pragmatic effects of such stereotyping on nurses' behaviors will be examined. Videotaped portrayals of patients and accompanying written information about the patients will be used as stimuli. Two studies will be conducted. In each study subjects will be given a written description of a patient prior to viewing a videotaped interview of the patient by a nurse. Written and video data presented will by identical for every subject except that the family structure of the patient will vary. Subjects will be randomly assigned to one of eight family role conditions: married mother, married with no children, divorce mother, divorced with not children, unmarried mother, unmarried with no children, stepmother, remarried with no children. Subjects will be given a brief description of a patient and given a questionnaire asking for their first impressions. They will then be shown a videotaped interview between a nurse and patient. After viewing the videotape, subjects will respond to a series of questionnaires that are designed to measure: cultural stereotypes related to family roles, predicted patient behaviors, recalled information about the patient, and information sought from the patient. Subjects will also be asked to identify further information they would seek if they were actually interviewing the patient. Finally, subjects will be asked to role play an interview. They will be instructed to verbally respond to a series of questions and statements made by the videotaped patient. Subject responses will be audiotaped for later coding. in this analogue design, measures of nurses' first impressions of patients, cognitive reconstruction of patient data, cognitive organization of data- gathering about patients, and verbal responses toward patients from different family structure will be obtained. The findings of this study will have implications for patient care and nursing education.
| Ganong, L H; Coleman, M (1997) Effects of family structure information on nurses' impression formation and verbal responses. Res Nurs Health 20:139-51 |
