Patients' experiences and perceived causes of persisting discomfort following day surgery

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to describe patients' experiences and perceived causes of persisting discomfort following day surgery. Earlier research has mainly covered symptoms and signs during a recovery period of up to one month, and not dealt with patients' perceptions of what causes persisting, longer-term discomfort.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study is a part from a study carried out during the period May 2006 to May 2007 with a total of 298 day surgery patients. Answers were completed by 118 patients at 48 hours, 110 at seven days and 46 at three months to one open-ended question related to discomfort after day surgery constructed as follows: <it>If you are still experiencing discomfort related to the surgery, what is the reason, in your opinion</it>? Data was processed, quantitatively and qualitatively. Descriptive, inferential, correlation and content analyses were performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results suggest that patients suffer from remaining discomfort e.g. pain and wound problem, with effects on daily life following day surgery up to three months. Among patients' perceptions of <it>factors leading to discomfort </it>may be <it>wrongful or suboptimal treatment</it>, <it>type of surgery </it>or <it>insufficient access to provider/information.</it></p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results have important implications for preventing and managing discomfort at home following day surgery, and for nursing interventions to help patients handle the recovery period better.</p

Quality of Life among Next of Kin of Frail Older People in Nursing Homes : An Interview Study after an Educational Intervention concerning Palliative Care

One cornerstone of palliative care is improving the family’s quality of life (QoL). The principles of palliative care have not been sufficiently applied in nursing homes. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of QoL of next of kin of frail older persons in nursing homes after an educational intervention concerning palliative care. This qualitative interview study with 37 next of kin used an abductive design with deductive and inductive content analysis. The deductive analysis confirmed the three themes of QoL from the study before the implementation: (1) orientation to the new life-situation, (2) challenges in the relationship, and (3) the significance of the quality of care in the nursing home. The inductive analysis resulted in the sub-theme “Unspoken palliative care”. Being the next of kin of an older person living in a nursing home can be distressing despite round-the-clock care, so staff need to apply a more explicitly palliative care perspective. Future research needs to evaluate the influence of meaning-focused coping on next of kin’s QoL and integrate this knowledge in psychosocial interventions. Clinical Trial Database for Clinical Research: KUPA project NCT02708498

Challenges of patient-focused care: Nurses’ descriptions and observations before and after intervention

The concept of patient-focused care aims to provide an environment in which the healthcare team focuses on the individual patient’s needs. In order to increase our understanding of how nurses perceive and conduct patient-focused care, the issue needs to be studied in various contexts. The aims of the study were to explore nurses’ descriptions of their patient-focused care, what took place during observed situations including the time spent, before and after the change of design from a more traditional to a single-bed hospital in Sweden. Non-participant observations with follow-up interviews were carried out. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Three categories emerged from the analysis: Barriers to being close to the patient, Desire to be close to the patient and The influence of environment on caring. The theme Presence or absence was interpreted as the latent meaning. The conclusion was that being present is crucial in nursing when providing compassionate and effective nursing care

Persons’ experiences of having hypertension – an interview study

Backgroundamong the 1–1.5 billion persons with hypertension globally only, 20–30% have controlled blood pressure (BP). The most important problem identified is non-adherence to treatment, i.e., failure to change lifestyle and to take prescribed medication. Knowledge about the reasons for this is limited.ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to explore people's experiences of having hypertension.DesignInductive design based on qualitative interviews.SettingsThe south of Sweden.ParticipantsTwelve adults diagnosed with hypertension and treated in primary care were interviewed.MethodsThe transcribed interviews were analysed using content analysis, which rendered three categories.ResultsThe individuals adapted to their diagnosis in different ways. Collaboration with the staff gave security, but the persons still perceived anxiety and uncertainty.ConclusionsTo meet the needs of people with hypertension, strategies such as person-centred counselling and care, using digital interventions, following national guidelines and starting nurse-led clinics, may be of help. These strategies can give a foundation for increased self-efficacy, which is crucial for persons to be able to change lifestyle and adhere to prescribed medication in order to achieve BP control

Possibilities for patients with elevated blood pressure to achieve blood pressure control without affecting quality of life (the PEQ-study) – a study protocol.

Several interventions on adherence have been tested in hypertension care but still the number of patients with well controlled blood pressure is not increasing. The aim is to get a deeper understanding of the patients’ reasons for not following their treatment as a base for in collaboration with the patients, developing effective interventions. A mixed methods design is to be used. Patients with hypertension who have considered changing lifestyle will be interviewed individually about their reasons for changing or not changing lifestyle and for taking or not taking medicines. Other patients, both those who do and those who do not have well-controlled blood pressure, treated at health centres and hospital clinics, will be asked to fill in instruments. The Exercise of Self Care Agency instrument gives information about the patients’ ability to perform self-care (change lifestyle) and the SF-36 is about health-related quality of life. Finally, patients will be asked to participate in focus-group interviews about how they want to be treated and what would be of help for them to achieve blood pressure control. From the findings we will create intervention/interventions without negative impact on quality of life together with the patients. These interventions are to be carried out and evaluated in real practice with patients with hypertension and other significant persons or health care personnel that may be involved