Abstract
Abstract Background Telephone nursing services for people with inflammatory bowel disease are widespread internationally. Nurses supporting this patient group require skills to treat and manage a wide range of symptoms. However, nurses who provide telenursing for people with inflammatory bowel disease face a range of challenges, some of which are specific to telenursing for this condition. We aimed to investigate telenursing specifically for people with inflammatory bowel disease. In particular, we sought to identify nurses’ practices and what they considered to be important in telenursing. Methods We carried out semi-structured interviews with 20 nurses in Japan with extensive experience providing telenursing for people with inflammatory bowel disease. Participants were selected by convenience sampling. First, nurses were asked about the main topics about which they were consulted by phone, and their responses to each one. The interviewees were asked about their perceptions of what was important, and the specific actions involved in answering the phone. Data were analysed using inductive content analysis. Reporting followed the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research. Results All 10 facilities provided telephone consultations without screens. Nurses had a mean duration of 9.1 years of telenursing experience. We extracted eight categories and 21 sub-categories of practice, as follows. When giving patients information about the availability of telenursing, nurses provide education and information to ensure that telephone consultations will be effective (A). When nurses receive telephone calls from people with inflammatory bowel disease (B), they work to understand the situation (C). When the call is about a patient’s worsening physical condition, nurses evaluate the patient’s physical condition (D), make decisions (E), and recommend a course of action to the caller (F). For consultations and requests about other issues, nurses act as the initial contact but share the responsibility for decision-making with other professionals (G). In some cases, nurses might contact patients (H). Three categories were identified as important elements in telenursing practice: establishing a coordinated system, clarifying the role of telenursing and improving skills. Conclusion We identified several issues that were specific to providing telenursing for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Addressing these issues could improve nursing practice in this field. Better understanding of telenursing practices and perspectives will help nurses to appreciate the basic practice and scope of work involved in telenursing, and may improve patient care.
Published Version
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