Informal carers' experiences with their children's care during hospitalization in Italy: Child HCAHPS results from RN4CAST@IT-Ped cross-sectional study

Purpose: To examine informal carers' experiences during their child's hospitalization and evaluate the associations with care received and care context.Design and methods: What is described in this article is only a part of the larger study, RN4CAST@IT-Ped, a multicenter cross-sectional study, with multi-level data collection through convenience sampling, the Child Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey was used to collect data from informal carers of pediatric patients, applying the "top box" approach.Results: Nine hospitals, 1472 nurses, and 635 children's parents were involved. A correlation was found between patient safety and satisfaction outcomes and nursing staff characteristics. Adequate workloads for nurses improved carers' assessment of their experience in the hospital.Conclusion: Adequate staffing management could significantly improve informal carers' satisfaction with the care provided to their children during hospitalization. Practice implications: Children's informal carers greatly value the care they receive in pediatric hospitals. Adequate workloads for nurses improve carers' overall evaluation of the care their children receive during hospitalization. Nursing management should consider improving these aspects to ensure high-quality care in children's hospitals.