Back to Search
Start Over
Emergency nurses perceptions of the role of family/carers in caring for cognitively impaired older persons in pain: A descriptive qualitative study.
- Source :
-
International Journal of Nursing Studies . Aug2015, Vol. 52 Issue 8, p1323-1331. 9p. - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Background: On arrival to the emergency department many older persons are accompanied by family/carers. Yet the role of family/carers in the emergency department is unclear. We know very little about how emergency department nurses balance care practices to accommodate family/carers while specifically meeting the needs of cognitively impaired older persons experiencing pain. Objectives: The aim of this paper was to understand emergency nurses' perceptions of the role of family/carers in caring for the older cognitively impaired person experiencing pain. Design: Emergency nurses were invited to participate in focus group interviews. A semi-structured interview tool was developed from the literature and comprised open-ended questions and three Likert scale items which assisted to focus nurses' thoughts on their perceived role of family/carers in the emergency department. Settings: The study was undertaken across four emergency departments in Sydney, Australia and included two district hospitals and two tertiary referral hospitals. Participants: Emergency nurses were invited to participate in one face to face, focus group interview. Purposive sampling was used and inclusion criteria included at least one year emergency department experience. Methods: Interview data were analysed and organised thematically. Two expert qualitative researchers independently reviewed transcripts and emerging coding and interpretation. Results: Eighty nurses participated in 16 focus group interviews across four hospitals. Participating nurses included 67 (84%) females and 13 (16%) males with 8.6 years (mean; SD ±8.64) experience in the emergency department. Three key themes relating to family/ carers emerged from the analysis. The themes included (i) the role of families and carers in building a clinical picture; (ii) family and carers as a hidden workforce; and (iii) family and carer roles in pain management decision making. Conclusions: The study has provided insight into the role of family/carers as perceived by emergency nurses. There were many benefits in partnering with family/carers when information gathering on the older cognitively impaired person in pain. Family/carers are sensitive to health behaviour changes of older cognitively impaired people, which can assist nurses to optimise pain management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *CAREGIVERS
*COGNITION disorders
*FOCUS groups
*HOSPITAL emergency services
*INTERVIEWING
*RESEARCH methodology
*NURSES' attitudes
*PAIN
*SENSORY perception
*RESEARCH funding
*SCALE analysis (Psychology)
*JUDGMENT sampling
*THEMATIC analysis
*FAMILY roles
*DATA analysis software
*DESCRIPTIVE statistics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00207489
- Volume :
- 52
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- International Journal of Nursing Studies
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 103335122
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2015.04.013