Family Health Conversations Conductedby Telephone in Heart Failure Nursing Care : A Feasibility Study

• Registered nurses (RNs) in heart failure (HF) nursing care have a key role in providing family support, which positively affectsthe outcome for the patient. Telephone interventions conducted by RNs have been reported to be successful in HF nursingcare, but Family Health Conversations (FamHCs) involving the patient and the family, have not previously been tested. Thepurpose of the current study was to explore the experiences and feasibility of nurse-led FamHCs conducted by telephonewith patients and their family caregivers. A single-group intervention study with a pretest–posttest design was conducted inthree regional hospitals that had a nurse-led HF clinic. Five RNs, eight patients, and eight family caregivers participated. ThreeFamHCs were conducted by telephone with each family every 2 weeks. Qualitative and quantitative data were collectedthrough semistructured interviews and questionnaires. FamHCs improved the nurse–family relationships and relationshipswithin the families and provided RNs with new knowledge about the families. FamHCs conducted by telephone wereconsidered to be feasible for both families and RNs, although RNs preferred fewer and shorter FamHCs. The RNs preferredmeeting face-to-face with the families as nonverbal communication between the family members could be missed because oflack of visual input. On the other hand, RNs appreciated to focus entirely on the conversation without the need to performillness-related routine checks. In conclusion, the advantages of FamHCs conducted by telephone outweighed the disadvantages.Visual contact, provided by video telephony, and a shorter version of the tested FamHC would facilitate the use in HFnursing care.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

advanced practice nurses

chronic illnesses

congenital heart disease

family nursing

heart failure

telenursing

Care Sciences

vårdvetenskap

Människan i vården

Nursing Science

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)