Striving to be in close proximity to the patient: An interpretive descriptive study of nursing practice from the perspectives of clinically experienced registered nurses

Abstract

Nursing practice is the basis of how nurses perceive, understand, and interpret clinical situations for the benefit of others, namely the patients. It is a complex practice and encompasses several types of actions within a broad scope of complexity and seriousness (Kim, 2015). The wide range of nursing tasks, which are not always simple and predictable, can confuse nurses' about their responsibility in practice (Bekker et al., 2015). Because of the complexity and also because of continuous changes in society, it is of significant importance to continue the debate around nursing practice, for the benefit of both nurses and other health professionals. In today's health care, nurses are expected to work interprofessionally.

District nurses' perspectives on health‐promotive and disease‐preventive work at primary health care centres: A qualitative study

“…Person‐centred care aims to acknowledge and endorse individual patients' resources and needs [11] and improve health outcomes and patient satisfaction [11–14]. Patients appreciate when nurses ask about lifestyle issues [15], but nurses outside PHC centres (PHCCs), e.g., nurses working at hospitals, rarely consider preventive nursing as nursing actions [16]. It is feasible to propose that all nurses may be aware of what health promotion is [17], but the concept could be considered as confusing, especially in relation to health education.…”

Nursing care during COVID-19 at non-COVID-19 hospital units: A qualitative study

“…However, closeness to patients is one of the key features of nursing care, 3,4 which requires physical contact, for example, when helping patients with personal hygiene or measuring their vital parameters. 5,6 Furthermore, touching the patient is an essential and often unavoidable part of nursing care and a powerful tool for non-verbal communication. 4,7 Touch can be task-oriented, promote physical and/or emotional comfort.…”

Nurse managers’ support of fundamental care in the hospital setting. An interpretive description of nurse managers’ experiences across Australia, Denmark, and New Zealand

“…This may suggest that organizations should strongly encourage their nurse managers to critically evaluate and reflect uon the fundamental care provided in their clinical areas. Undertaking this reflection external to the clinical area and without disruption would be beneficial (Gurné et al, 2021). In addition, it was not clear the extent to which the participants were prepared for their roles as nurse managers and what training and education they received in advance, or was deemed essential qualifications for appointment to their role.…”

“…Participants’ inability to talk about how they support nurses to deliver fundamental care might also relate to the invisibility of fundamental care in hospital organizational priorities. It has been noted elsewhere that healthcare organizations continue to reflect (either implicitly or explicitly) a biomedical model (Feo & Kitson, 2016; Gurné et al, 2021) and that the nursing role has adapted to incorporate other organizational priorities (for example, hospital bed management) to the detriment of the provision of nursing care (Allen, 2014). In addition, some of the comments from participants appeared to imply a hierarchy of nursing activities, with aspects of fundamental care at the bottom of the hierarchy.…”

“…A total of 31 participants is appropriate for an interpretive description study (Gurné et al, 2021). We acknowledge the smaller number of participants in the Danish and Australian groups, and that the analysis could be seen to be unduly influenced by the New Zealand perspective.…”