Parents' attitudes to medical education on paediatric ward rounds.

Objectives: To understand parents' attitudes to medical education of junior doctors and students during ward rounds, and to explore how parents' perceptions vary in medical and surgical paediatric wards.
Design: A mixed-methods descriptive study was done using 100 semistructured interviews across two departments at a single tertiary-level paediatric hospital. Quantitative data were derived from closed-ended interview responses and analysed using descriptive statistics to explore overall parental satisfaction with education on rounds. Qualitative data were obtained from open-ended interview responses using inductive content analysis, with themes agreed between three researchers.
Results: This study demonstrated high parental satisfaction with education on ward rounds, with over 85% of parents satisfied with education occurring on rounds. There was no difference between medical and surgical cohorts despite more parents witnessing teaching on medical rounds (70%) than on surgical rounds (16%). Qualitative data derived four key themes: altruism as the reason for supporting education , the child still comes first , setting the scene and the location matters .
Conclusion: This research demonstrates parents support education of medical students and junior doctors during ward rounds, provided ward-based learning is not perceived to compromise care. Intentional communication with parents regarding the teaching process, including timing and location of teaching, helps improve engagement and parental satisfaction.
Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.
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