Overall information:

This is a postdoc project that includes three work packages (WP). The purpose of this research is to investigate key principles and conflicts of goals in registered nurses’ (RNs) initial assessments and nurse-patient communication related to the priority of patients’ needs and care provision in primary care. This abstract focuses on the first WP.

Background:

Primary care is central to the Swedish healthcare system, for “good quality, local health care”, with focus on accessibility and continuity. In primary care, RNs are usually the patient's first point of contact and those who carry out initial assessments and priorities. The RNs communication and interaction with the patient is important for the initial exploration and understanding about patient’s health concerns, and RNs assessment includes data gathering, the interpretation of these data and decision-making on what action needs to be taken. Communication strategies used can optimize RNs assessment and clinical reasoning. However, assessments and priorities are complex, as health problems and illness severity must be weighed against accessibility and available resources. There is a lack of research on RNs communication strategies used to address individual patients’ need in their initial contact with primary care.

Aim:

To explore nurse-patient communication during initial assessments and RNs’ priorities with focus on expressed needs and concerns.

Methods:

The first WP is based on observational data, subjects for the project are RNs and patients from primary care units in Region Västra Götaland, Sweden. Data will be gathered on real time nursepatient communication using audio recordings with ten RNs doing five recordings each. A purposeful sampling will be made to collect data related to patients with a first point of contact with different disease conditions and illness complexities. The processing and analysis of data collected on audio recordings will be coded with the Verona Coding Definitions on Emotional Sequences (VR-CoDES). The data will allow for both statistical and qualitative analysis.

Expected findings:

This study can contribute to more knowledge about RNs communication strategies in relation to RNs’ assessment in patient’s first point of contact in primary care, but also whether gender differences or other inequalities exist.

Timeplan:

The first WP will start in Spring 2023 and by the end of the year, reporting and dissemination of findings is expected to be possible

Request for feedback:

We have planned to code the data with VR-CoDES. Other methods or approaches that may be suitable?