Abstract
BackgroundMunicipal healthcare organizations are facing increasing challenges to developing more cost‐effective organizations and services, particularly in nursing homes. The background for this article is an attempt in this concern; implementing service design in a nursing home.AimThe aim of the study is to explore nurses and nurse assistants' experiences using service design in a nursing home.DesignA qualitative design was applied.MethodData were collected through focus group interviews with 17 nurses and nurse assistants in 2015. Thematic discourse analysis was conducted to analyse their discussed experiences.ResultsThe employees had positive attitudes towards incorporating a service design approach that focused on the patients' needs, which thus encouraged creative solutions and promoted employee involvement. The study shows that involving service designers and employees in the entire process, from planning to implementation of new and innovative solutions, requires closer collaboration between the service designers, managers, and employees to achieve the final goal. We consider that the results of this study will be of relevance to the future development of health care and nursing in nursing homes.
Highlights
Municipal healthcare organizations are under unprecedented financial, social, and political pressures to develop more robust healthcare systems for better aligning current and future services (Roberts, Fisher, Trowbridge, & Bent, 2016; Thakur, Hsu, & Fontenot, 2012)
When asked about their experiences attending the workshops or other activities organized by the service designers, one nurse assistant responded as follows: Even though nurses and nurse assistants said they were not used to visualizing challenges and solutions with markers, notes, pictures, and images, they stated that “it was easier to see solutions than problems” because the service designers focused on solutions
During the workshops with colleagues and service designers, the employees expressed a desire to contribute to finding solutions and work as a group in a smarter way: Nurse: We worked very hard! It was a lot of fun to work in a creative way with the service designers
Summary
Municipal healthcare organizations are under unprecedented financial, social, and political pressures to develop more robust healthcare systems for better aligning current and future services (Roberts, Fisher, Trowbridge, & Bent, 2016; Thakur, Hsu, & Fontenot, 2012). Previous research has indicated that future health services should be more people-and patient-centred, with a focus on the patients’ needs in the planning of health care (Roberts et al, 2016; Ministry of Health and Social Services in Norway, 2008–2009, 2011, 2012–2013). Results: The employees had positive attitudes towards incorporating a service design approach that focused on the patients’ needs, which encouraged creative solutions and promoted employee involvement. The study shows that involving service designers and employees in the entire process, from planning to implementation of new and innovative solutions, requires closer collaboration between the service designers, managers, and employees to achieve the final goal. We consider that the results of this study will be of relevance to the future development of health care and nursing in nursing homes
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
