Family-provider alliance program in intensive care units

This nonrandomized controlled study evaluated the effects of Family-Provider Alliance Program on nurses' perception of therapeutic alliance, job satisfaction, and quality of care. A total of 275 nurses were included in the study: 206 nurses in the ICUs participated in the Program and 69 in the control group did not. Mean postinterventional Kim Alliance Scale-Provider score was improved not only in the experimental group (+0.87; p = .01), but also in the control group (+1.37; p = .016). However, Empowerment subscale mean score was improved in the experimental group alone (+0.34; p = .006). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that family-nurse therapeutic alliance explained 7.2% and 11.4% of the variance in nurses' job satisfaction and perceived quality of care, respectively. The Program was marginally effective in improving nurses' perception of family empowerment. The quality of family-nurse therapeutic alliance predicted small to moderate fractions of the variance in nurses' job satisfaction and perceived quality of care.