Providing informational support to the families of TBI patients: a survey of nursing staff in Finland

Background: People with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) constitute a significant patient care population: every year almost 8 million brain injuries are diagnosed worldwide. Social support (informational, emotional and practical) has been identified as one of the essential factors that help TBI patients' families to cope with the severe situation. Aims: This paper reports on a study of how often nursing staff provide interventions of informational support and the level of competence needed by nursing staff working in all neurosurgical wards to support the families of TBI patients. Methods: The target group included all nursing staff (n=172) in all neurosurgical wards in Finland. Data was collected via a self-completion questionnaire in 2010. The participants were nurses (n=115; response rate 67%) working in the neurosurgical wards of all five Finnish university hospitals. The data were statistically analysed using SPSS version 19. Descriptive statistics, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, one-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA, MANOVA and linear regression were used. Results: Overall, the nurses often provided informational support to TBI patients' families. They often told them about treatment and about their own responsibilities to family members; by contrast, they seldom informed family members about prevention of secondary injuries. There was a connection between the age and work experience of the nursing staff and the provision of information about secondary injuries. Conclusions: Nurses with less work experience may have limited competence in delivering information to family members. This should be taken into consideration when planning the staffing of shifts, ensuring that there are always enough experienced nurses on duty.