What we ask
How do nurses approach caregiver education, what supports their confidence, and what makes meaningful engagement difficult within everyday clinical practice?
Caregiving
Strengthening nurses’ preparation to work with informal caregivers
A mixed-methods research program examining how nurses educate and engage the family and friends who provide unpaid care.
Project overview
Understanding the conditions that shape experience and confidence.
Informal caregivers often leave clinical settings responsible for complex care, yet the preparation they receive is shaped by nurses’ knowledge, confidence, communication practices, and working conditions. This project examines caregiver education as both an interpersonal practice and an organizational responsibility.
How we study it
Qualitative interviews and survey research bring nurses’ experiences into conversation with patterns in caregiver-education practices, perceived barriers, resource knowledge, and professional confidence.
Where it leads
Findings are guiding practical resources and educational approaches that can better prepare nurses to support caregivers without overlooking the institutional conditions that shape their work.
Why this matters
Research designed to inform practice.
Caregiver education is often treated as a brief task completed before discharge. Our work reframes it as a core component of safe, equitable care. Better preparation for nurses can strengthen communication, reduce uncertainty for families, and help health systems support the people who continue care beyond the hospital.
Practical impact
How the work can be used.
We connect research findings to concrete changes in practice, organizational decision-making, and the design of responsive systems.
Nurse education
Develop evidence-informed learning resources that strengthen nurses’ confidence, communication, and ability to connect caregivers with meaningful support.
Clinical practice
Inform approaches to caregiver assessment and education that can be integrated into discharge preparation and routine care rather than added as an afterthought.
Organizational action
Help nurse leaders identify the time, resources, workflows, and institutional supports needed for consistent caregiver engagement.