Special populations: telehealth advance practice nursing: the lived experiences of individuals with acute infections transitioning in the home

Abstract

Aim: This paper aims to describe the "lived experience" of individuals with acute infections transitioning in the home with support by an advance practice nurse using telehealth.

Background: The use of telehealth in individuals' homes in the United States is increasing in an effort to cut cost by limiting admissions to hospitals and/or reducing length of stay. This increase has not been driven by conclusive research findings in support of this technology; furthermore, the majority of research conducted has been in the area of chronic disease management.

Method: A qualitative approach was used to describe the essential structure of the lived experience as told during taped interviews by individuals who had been enrolled in a pilot quantitative telehealth study over the past 2 years.

Findings: Major findings consisted of three theme categories: Initial response, Engaging in care, and Experiencing the downside. The transition that occurred when an individual with an acute infection was discharged from the hospital to the home supported by telehealth technology revealed an overall positive experience from the 10 participants. There was one negative experience in a participant who had two separate telehealth enrollments.

Conclusions: The findings add valuable insight for advanced practice nurses into the experience of participants with acute illness who are receiving telehealth as they transition from hospital care to home care. The findings highlighted the importance of the participants having a sense of control when recovering from their illness, which could be achieved at home with a family member acting as a substitute nurse. The participants shared that the hospital environment may not be optimal for recovering from an illness. This provides the advanced practice nurse with information on risk and benefits of telehealth from the individuals' perspective.