The effect of child care proximity on maternal reports of separation anxiety in employed nurses.

PURPOSE

To determine whether employed nurses with young children, aged 6 months to 4 years, experienced differences in maternal separation anxiety related to proximity of child care.

METHOD

A comparative design was used to survey 29 nurses who were mothers of young children and were employed at two work sites: one with on-site child care services and one without child care services of any kind. The Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale and The Child Care Satisfaction Instrument were the data collection tools. Scores were compared by t-test.

FINDINGS

There were no significant differences in maternal separation anxiety between the two groups nor in the level of satisfaction with the child care arrangement.

CONCLUSIONS

Future research should address questions of who most benefits and in what ways from differing types of child care services. This research should include larger samples, part-time and full-time employed mothers, low income families, single mothers, mothers with infants, mothers of children in need of after school services, and mothers who work evening and night shifts.