Is power-sharing possible? - Using empowerment evaluation with parents and nurses in a pediatric hospital transplantation setting

This article describes the evaluation of an innovative empowerment project aimed at improving nurse-family communication in a pediatric transplantation setting. Empowerment and family-centered care models were employed to reduce barriers to communication and build partnerships. The goals of the project were to facilitate empowerment, power-sharing, and joint decision-making among nurses and families. Families gained insight into biomedical culture, culminating in the creation of a handbook for navigating biomedical culture, which they site as empowering. However, major barriers exist to achieving the remaining goals. Although nurses involved with the project value the principles of joint decision-making and power-sharing abstractly, they are reluctant to incorporate them into their practice. They describe them as at odds with tasks and roles they must accomplish. Foucault's insights on clinical power assist in understanding why this project was successful in creating partnerships in some areas, but not accomplishing power-sharing at a structural and practical level.