Author:
Näppä Ulla,Nässén Elin,Winqvist Idun
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Palliative care requires major nursing interventions as well as medical interventions; thus, both district nurses and doctors are vital to the palliative team. Sparsely populated rural areas are characterised by large geographic distances with the nurses and doctors located far away from each other. If collaboration does not work, this can create challenges for district nurses when managing patients’ symptoms. The aim of this study was to describe district nurses’ experiences of collaborating with doctors-in-charge during palliative home care in sparsely populated rural areas.
Method
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 district nurses. Inductive content analysis was used to analyse the data.
Results
The experiences of the district nurses are described under the overarching theme of Experiences of acting as the patient’s advocate, which is divided into two categories: Feeling secure in oneself and the other person and Feeling alone when collaboration breaks down.
Conclusion
Consensus and coherence, or lack thereof, between district nurses and doctors affect how collaboration is experienced. Positive experiences are generated when the district nurse and the doctor share a holistic approach, while collaboration is experienced as dysfunctional when the doctor’s decisions are not consistent with what the nurse judges to be beneficial to the patient. An understanding of how collaboration across long distances is experienced in rural areas is necessary to enhance collaboration.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference54 articles.
1. Framework for action on interprofessional education & collaborative practice. [https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/framework-for-action-on-interprofessional-education-collaborative-practice]. Accessed 22 March 2023.
2. Johansen M-L, Ervik B. Talking together in rural palliative care: a qualitative study of interprofessional collaboration in Norway. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022;22(1):314.
3. Thomé B, Dykes AK, Hallberg IR. Home care with regard to definition, care recipients, content and outcome: systematic literature review. J Clin Nurs. 2003;12(6):860–72.
4. Iversen T, Anell A, Häkkinen U, Kronborg C, Ólafsdóttir T. Coordination of health care in the nordic countries. Nordic J Health Econ. 2016;4(1):41–55.
5. Wallerstedt B, Benzein E, Schildmeijer K, Sandgren A. What is palliative care? Perceptions of healthcare professionals. Scand J Caring Sci. 2019;33(1):77–84.