Does the 15-Minute (or Less) Family Interview Influence Family Nursing Practice?

A quasi-experimental, pretest/posttest study was conducted to explore nurses' perceptions of the impact of the 15-minute family interview on the pediatric hospital admission process. The intervention consisted of two in-depth teaching sessions, and hands-on coaching in the use of the 15-minute family interview. Each of the 6 nurses was interviewed twice using a semi-structured questionnaire: once before receiving the intervention and once after they had completed 6 family interviews. In addition, nurses kept field notes on their impressions of the family interviewing process. A thematic analysis of the data was conducted. Findings revealed that the nurses perceived the genogram, therapeutic questions, and commendations as having a positive impact on their ability to conduct family assessment and family interventions. Overall, nurses felt that the 15-minute family interview should be routinely incorporated into practice at the time of a child's admission.