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Background: Most healthcare professionals, including nurses, will have contact with patients who have a connection to adoption. Still, many nursing curricula do not incorporate topics related to the needs of the adoption triad (birth parents, adoptive parents/siblings, and individuals who are adopted).
Purpose:This study examined undergraduate nursing students’: 1) perceptions of the members of the adoption triad, 2) perceived comfort level in caring for the triad, and 3) reported competency of care based on clinical vignettes.
Methods and Subjects: Eighty-five students enrolled in a generic baccalaureate program in the Midwest responded to the survey. Predominant areas of clinical interest included labor, delivery, and postpartum, and pediatrics.
Instruments: The 29-item, investigator-generated survey, contained Likert and semantic differential questions. Acceptable Cronbach’s alphas were found for the three sections of the survey: 1) global perceptions of the adoption triad (0.80); 2) overall comfort of students in rendering care to the triad (0.72); 3) confidence of care based on clinical vignettes (0.79).
Results: Adoptive parents were perceived as happier, and more responsible, selfless, powerful, stable and supported than the other triad members. However, students’ reported feeling the least comfortable in providing care for adoptive parents. Paired t-tests revealed significant differences between overall comfort levels of caring for the triad and levels of confidence that were tied to specific clinical situations. The majority of students agreed or strongly agreed that more information regarding adoption should be offered in school.
Conclusion: While perceptions of adoptive parents were very positive, overall confidence in working with them was lowest. Overconfidence in caring for members of the adoption triad was evident when general responses were compared to the clinical vignettes. These findings support that students require more knowledge to meet the triad members’ needs; learning should be enhanced by case studies and clinical situations.