Nurses' assessments of horizontal collaboration in municipal health and care services for older adults: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Interprofessional and interorganizational collaboration is considered key to achieving high‐quality care and positive patient outcomes, but there is limited research into how nurses working in nursing homes and home care services perceive collaboration with other municipal health and care service providers and how their assessments of collaboration vary with individual characteristics and context. The objective of this study was to map variation in nurses' assessments of horizontal collaboration with core care services for older adults, specifically nursing homes, home care services, general practitioners, the allocation office and physio‐ and occupational therapy services. The study draws on findings from a nationwide cross‐sectional survey on posthospital care for older adults, conducted among nurses working in nursing homes and home care services in Norway (N = 3717). Nurses were asked to assess collaboration with these five services. Independent variables were workplace, age, years at current workplace, part‐time work, postgraduate education, and municipality size. Statistical analyses were conducted using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA). A majority of nurses evaluated horizontal collaboration as good. Collaboration with the home care services was evaluated as best, while collaboration with general practitioners was evaluated as least good. The study showed that workplace and municipality size were important for nurses' assessments of collaboration. Generally, nurses in smaller municipalities evaluated collaboration as better than nurses in larger municipalities. That workplace and municipality size impact on nurses' evaluations of collaboration in municipal care services for older adults is important knowledge for leaders and policy‐makers aiming to improve patient care and teamwork.

Development dynamics of health and social infrastructure for the long-term care – The case of the Posavje region

“…Based on the demographic projections for each LAG, the given structure of care categories in LAGs, and the interviews, the forecast of LTC demand is presented in Table 1 if new facilities for community care are not developed ( 4 ). A more in-depth study was later conducted in the Posavje region.…”

“…The projection of LTC demand in five LAGs given today's structure of housing and services based on the no-migration demographic projections. 4 1 At the same standard of number of nurses per population 2 Note that demand is more than 50% higher than existing capacity today in nursing homes-NHs 3 Waiting line in LAG Pri dobrih ljudeh and LAG Prlekija is registered in LAG Goričko 4 The calculations by authors based on the European population projection 2018 data -no migration scenario. 5 Estimate of demand by 2050 (number of persons) assuming the same structure of applicants: 1/4 of the care recipients in the cohort 65-79 and 3/4 among the population 80+ (based on the no migration scenario)…”

“…This demographic development drives the growth of the health care and LTC expenditures, and puts pressure on LTC delivery. However, we consider demographic changes as new and exciting opportunities for rural residents and rural social entrepreneurship ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). The question is: “What would be the optimal construction dynamics of the assisted living facilities and the projection of staff needed for eldercare?…”

Medication Safety in Municipal Health and Care Services

“…These national health reforms within healthcare services highlight health-promotion efforts, expecting the elderly to live longer in their own homes and, if needed, to receive home care services. Norwegian municipalities are obliged to provide health and care services for older adults, where institutional care, home care, and general practitioners are defined as core services (Skinner, Veenstra et al, 2020). Home care services typically consist of help for activities of daily living (ADL), for example, personal hygiene and meals, or medication administration (Ministry of Health and Care Services, 2011).…”

“…How the healthcare services are organized is also of importance, since collaboration between different healthcare services and professionals has an impact and can affect the quality of outcomes (Skinner, Veenstra et al, 2020). Recent research has revealed a situation, as a result of the national healthcare reforms, where the decentralization of tasks from specialist health services 1 to the municipality and primary care service has led to a greater need for information exchange and collaboration between different healthcare providers within municipal health service organizations (Gautun & Syse, 2017;Skinner, Veenstra et al, 2020). To preserve the older person's need for continuity of care, better collaboration between nurses and general practitioners (GP) is needed (Skinner, Veenstra et al, 2020).…”