Education for family-centred care: A qualitative study with educators of advanced practice child and family health nurses

Aim: Explore academics' perspectives of theoretical and practical education for family-centred care in postgraduate child and family health nursing courses. Background: Education for advanced nursing practice in child and family health relies on understanding underlying principles of care and application in practice. Family-centred care fosters engagement and promotes child and family health and wellbeing. Key to its implementation are principles of creating respectful relationships, ensuring effective communication, supporting autonomy and contextualising care in service provision. However, little is known about how these are addressed in advanced practice nurse education. Design: Qualitative descriptive study Methods: Semi-structured interviews with academic coordinators from six Australian universities providing child and family health nurse education were conducted between December 2020-January 2021 and analysed using framework analysis. Results: Family-centred care was embedded throughout all curricula. However, differences existed in curriculum (entry requirements, duration, delivery mode, practical experience) and employer expectations (qualification requirements, practice scope). Educators aim to ensure students develop core skills for safe, appropriate and responsive care. Although professional standards support family-centred care, they do not routinely guide curriculum development. Conclusions: Educational expectations for advanced practice in child and family health nursing reflect local differences. Education for family-centred care predominantly focused on strengths-based and partnership approaches. Aligning agreed practice standards with curriculum design and clinical oversight would enable more consistent practice across the country, even when service structures differ. We encourage educators to address the broader drivers of family-centred care in child and family health nursing education.