Helsepersonells erfaringer og tanker om bruk av frivillige i palliativ omsorg

Health care personnel’s experiences and thoughts on the use of volunteers in palliative care in a social perspectiveThe government of Norway is planning for the municipalities’ health care resources, including volunteering. The purpose of this study was to shed light on the experiences and thoughts of a group of health care personnel on the use of volunteers in palliative care in the community health care services, and to discuss the findings in a social perspective. Individual interviews were conducted with seven nurses and three nursing assistants. Using a qualitative content analysis three categories emerged: "The importance of organization, clarification and responsibility," "Qualificat…

Conflicting rationales: leader's experienced ethical challenges in community health care for older people.

BACKGROUND Ethical challenges arise in all types of care, and leaders need to be aware of how to resolve these challenges. Healthcare systems tend to be organised around medical conditions, and the patient is often faced with a series of uncoordinated visits to multiple specialties. Ideally, care should be organised around the patient's needs. AIM The purpose of this article was to highlight some ethical challenges perceived by leaders with responsibility for management and service distribution, finance and ensuring quality of community health services for older people. METHOD This study had a qualitative design with a qualitative content analysis of one focus group with six leaders that me…

To be a trained and supported volunteer in palliative care – a phenomenological study

Background: It has been found that including volunteers in palliative care is a positive contribution to seriously ill patients. It is, however, recommended that the volunteers are trained and supported. The aim of this study was to describe a group of trained and supported volunteers’ lived experiences as volunteers in palliative care within the community health care services. Methods: This study adopted a descriptive phenomenological approach featuring individual interviews with nine volunteers. The interviews were analysed using the descriptive phenomenological research method according to Giorgi. Results: Being a volunteer in palliative care was both a positive and meaningful experience…

Preserving dignity in end-od-life nursing home care: some ethical challenges.

Pårørendes erfaringer med bruk av frivillige ved alvorlig sykdom i hjemmet

Next-of-kins’ experiences when using volunteers for palliative patients living at home The aim of this study was to illuminate next-of-kins’ experiences when using volunteers supplementing community health care services for palliative patients living at home. The study has a qualitative approach. Nine individual interviews were conducted with next of kin from a municipality in Southern Norway. Use of volunteers for palliative care in the home was a relief for next-of-kin, especially prominent for families who had limited social network. Planned volunteering resulted in the best results. Use of volunteer was also found helpful for families as they were given a "breathing space" and a certain…

Feriereise kan ha positiv innvirkning på pasienter med demenslidelse

Published version of an article in the journal: Vård i Norden Aim. To gain knowledge about how a holiday trip to Spain with adapted cultural activities may affect a group of patients with dementia disorder. Background. With the increasing number of people suffering from dementia, it will be important to focus on activities that may affect well-beeing in this group. Method. A focus group interview was conducted with six healthcare workers, who participated in a trip to Spain together with six patients suffering from dementia. A qualitative content analysis was used. Findings. The findings were interpreted in one main theme: Close follow-up in unfamiliar environment and participation in adapt…

The importance of leadership in innovation processes in nursing homes: An integrative review

The rapidly growing number of older people with increasingly complex needs places pressure on quality of care and thereby presents a need for innovation in nursing homes. The aim of this review was to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of evidence for the importance of leadership in innovation processes in nursing homes. A systematic search was conducted. Titles and abstracts were screened for relevance, data from full texts were extracted and reduced and quality appraisal was performed. Content analysis resulted in two categories: organizational factors associated with innovation and leadership characteristics in innovation, constructing the overall theme, ‘leadership: …

Ethical challenges in care for older patients who resist help

Background: Situations where patients resist necessary help can be professionally and ethically challenging for health professionals, and the risk of paternalism, abuse and coercion are present. Research question: The purpose of this study was to examine ethical challenges in situations where the patient resists healthcare. Research design: The method used was clinical application research. Academic staff and clinical co-researchers collaborated in a hermeneutical process to shed light on situations and create a basis for new action. Participants and research context: Four research groups were established. Each group consisted of six to eight clinical co-researchers, all employees with diff…

Preserving dignity in end-of-life nursing home care: Some ethical challenges

A central task in palliative care is meeting the needs of frail, dying patients in nursing homes. The aim of this study was to investigate how healthcare workers are influenced by and deal with ethical challenges in end-of-life care in nursing homes. The study was inspired by clinical application research. Researchers and clinical staff, as co-researchers, collaborated to shed light on clinical situations and create a basis for new practice. The analysis resulted in the main theme, ‘Dignity in end-of-life nursing home care’, and the sub-categories ‘Challenges regarding life-prolonging treatment’ and ‘Uncertainty regarding clarification conversations’. Our findings indicate that nursing hom…

Social Innovation Toward a Meaningful Everyday Life for Nursing Home Residents: An Ethnographic Study

Background: The literature shows that innovation, which includes culture change, may be important to create a meaningful everyday life for nursing home residents. However, there is a gap in how social innovation practices may contribute to this. The theoretical discourse for the study is person-centered care.Aim: The main aim was to explore phenomena within social innovation that can contribute to improving nursing home residents’ everyday lives.Design and Method: This study uses an ethnographic design with observations and interviews in two nursing homes in Southern Norway.Findings: The main theme was that social innovation within working practices in nursing homes includes phenomena that …