Family involvement in medical decision-making: Perceptions of nursing and psychology students

•Nursing and psychology students perceive family involvement in decision-making as appropriate.•Emotional consideration is the most acceptable in decision-making.•Training students to support families in the process of decision-making should be taught in Shared Decision Making programs.

BackgroundFamily members often rely on health care professionals to guide and support them through the decision-making process. Although family involvement in medical decisions should be included in the preservice curriculum for the health care professions, perceptions of students in caring professions on family involvement in medical decision-making have not yet been examined.ObjectiveTo examine the perceptions of nursing and psychology students on family involvement in medical decision-making for seriously ill patients.DesignA descriptive cross-sectional design was used.Setting and ParticipantsFirst year undergraduate nursing and psychology students studying for their Bachelor of Arts degree were recruited.MethodsPerceptions were assessed with a questionnaire constructed based on the Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT), which examines decision-maker preferences. The questionnaire consisted of two parts referring to the respondent once as the patient and then as the family caregiver.ResultsQuestionnaires were completed by 116 nursing students and 156 psychology students. Most were of the opinion that family involvement in decision-making is appropriate, especially when the patient is incapable of making decisions. Nursing students were more inclined than psychology students to think that financial, emotional, and value-based considerations should be part of the family's involvement in decision-making. Both groups of students perceived the emotional consideration as most acceptable, whereas the financial consideration was considered the least acceptable.ConclusionsNursing and psychology students perceive family involvement in medical decision-making as appropriate. In order to train students to support families in the process of decision-making, further research should examine Shared Decision-Making (SDM) programs, which involve patient and clinician collaboration in health care decisions.