Aim The aim of this study was to describe telephone nurses’ experiences of their encounters with frequent callers to Swedish Healthcare Direct. Design A descriptive inductive design with qualitative approach. Methods Data collection was performed during the period of September 2017 – June 2018. A total of 199 telephone nurses working at 10 Swedish Healthcare Direct sites with different geographical locations in Sweden answered a survey containing seven open‐ended questions. Data analysis was performed during the period of September 2018 – June 2019. The answers were analysed using content analysis. Results The telephone nurses perceived that the encounters with frequent callers were sometimes frustrating as they felt unable to help. According to the telephone nurses, the frequent callers called about the same issues several times and the calls were often about loneliness and psychiatric problems. The telephone nurses were worried about missing something urgent; one of the aspects leading to this was the perception of knowing the caller. They expressed a wish to know more about frequent callers and strategies for helping them. A common care plan for frequent callers’ calls was suggested. Conclusion Telephone nurses often found it difficult to handle calls from frequent callers. However, they had a will to care for frequent callers and to learn more about them. Therefore, a common strategy, education and training for telephone nurses in answering calls from frequent callers could be beneficial for both callers and telephone nurses. Impact statement This study offers insights to researchers, telephone nurses and managers of telephone nursing, regarding telephone nurses’ experiences in handling frequent caller calls. These findings can offer direction for the content of a possible intervention.

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Direct (SHD), aims to be accessible for the entire Swedish population.The lowest eligibility requirement for working as a telephone nurse (TNs) answering the calls at SHD is to be a registered nurse. Further, the TNs regularly achieve in-house training in communication skills and in making assessments via telephone (Röing & Holmström, 2015;Vårdguiden, 2020). There are approximately 1,500 TNs employed at SHD, replying to nearly six million calls yearly (Inera, 2018). The purpose of SHD is to increase accessibility to healthcare, advice and refer callers, and to co-operate with other healthcare institutions.The TNs working at SHD are obliged to make a medical assessment, refer to the appropriate level of care and/or provide self-care advice to callers. The service is available to the Swedish population via the telephone number 1,177 around the clock, year-round (Vårdguiden, 2020). A person-centred care and structure in the conversation are sought in the communication with the caller (Vårdhandboken, 2019).Previous studies demonstrate that some calls take more time than others do. When calls are more complex and characterized by, for example psychiatric illness they tend to consume more time (Björkman and Salzman-Eriksson, 2019). Some callers make repeated calls over time and are labelled frequent callers (FCs). Several studies reveal