Relationship between nurses' perceptions of nursing assistant roles and information-sharing behaviors: A cross-sectional study

Information-sharing between nurses and nursing assistants is necessary for appropriate inpatient care. Nurses who perceive nursing assistant roles highly may display positive behaviors related to information-sharing with nursing assistants. This study aims to examine the relationship between nurses' perceptions of nursing assistant roles and the frequency of their sharing information with nursing assistants. Using a self-administered, cross-sectional survey questionnaire, data from 2,642 nurses in 182 hospitals were collected. Nurses' perceptions of nursing assistant roles were measured with a scale containing four factors: (i) improving patients' abilities through daily care; (ii) caring for various patients using broad perspectives; (iii) facilitating co-ordination and co-operation among team members; and (iv) increasing the amount of information on patients among team members. Information-sharing behaviors included “expressing,” “asking,” “linguistic response,” and “feedback.” Multiple regression analyses for each nurse's information-sharing behaviors were conducted. Nurses' perceptions of nursing assistant roles were positively correlated with the frequency of sharing information with nursing assistants. The degree of the correlations differed, depending on the type of information-sharing behavior. Therefore, improving nurses' understanding of nursing assistant roles might increase their information-sharing behaviors.