Nurses' descriptions of person-centred care for older people in an acute medical ward-On the individual, team and organisational levels'

Abstract

Aim and objectives: To describe nurses' experiences of providing person-centred care for older people on an acute medical ward.

Background: There is evidence that person-centred care for older people contributes to a higher quality care and increased satisfaction with care. However, there is a shortness of studies providing concrete examples of what facilitates nurses providing person-centred care for older people in acute care.

Design: An interview study with qualitative content analysis. COREQ guidelines have been applied.

Method: Fourteen registered nurses and enrolled nurses from an acute care ward participated in semi structured research interviews. The interviews were conducted during 2016 and interpreted using qualitative content analyses.

Results: Person-centred care was described at different levels in care; at the individual nurse level, person-centred care was described as involving person-centred assessing, relating and spacing which involved personalising assessments, relationships as well as the physical environment. At the team level, person-centred care was described in terms of person-centred goal setting, team responsibilities and team support, and involved having shared and personalised goals, different team responsibilities and a climate of support and collaboration. At the organisational level, person-centred care was described in terms of having person-centred routines, workloads and staff roles that all contributed to put the person at the core of the organisation and build routines to support this.

Conclusions: The current study emphasises that, rather than confining person-centred care to specific moments or relationships, a systematic, multilevel organisational approach seems needed to enable nurses as individuals and teams to provide person-centred care consistently and continuously to older people in acute care settings.

Relevance to clinical practice: The results of this study should inspire nurses and managers to expedite implementation of person-centred care for older care recipients hospitalised in acute care wards. Examples of person-centred care are presented herein at clearly identified sites, namely, the "individual," "team" and "organisational levels."

Keywords: aged; care; emergency nursing; organisation; patient-centred care; person; team; ward.