Managing Patients With Heart Failure: A Qualitative Study of Multidisciplinary Teams With Specialist Heart Failure Nurses

Glogowska, Margaret, Simmonds, Rosemary, McLachlan, Sarah, Cramer, Helen, Sanders, Tom, Johnson, Rachel, Kadam, Umesh T., Lasserson, Daniel S. and Purdy, Sarah (2015) Managing Patients With Heart Failure: A Qualitative Study of Multidisciplinary Teams With Specialist Heart Failure Nurses. The Annals of Family Medicine, 13 (5). pp. 466-471. ISSN 1544-1717

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of health care clinicians working in multidisciplinary teams that include specialist heart failure nurses when caring for the management of heart failure patients.

METHODS We used a qualitative in-depth interview study nested in a broader ethnographic study of unplanned admissions in heart failure patients (HoldFAST). We interviewed 24 health care clinicians across primary, secondary, and community care in 3 locations in the Midlands, South Central, and South West of England.

RESULTS Within a framework of the role and contribution of the heart failure specialist nurse, our study identified 2 thematic areas that the clinicians agreed still represent particular challenges when working with heart failure patients. The first was communication with patients, in particular explaining the diagnosis and helping patients to understand the condition. The participants recognized that such communication was most effective when they had a long-term relationship with patients and families and that the specialist nurse played an important part in achieving this relationship. The second was communication within the team. Multidisciplinary input was especially needed because of the complexity of many patients and issues around medications, and the participants believed the specialist nurse may facilitate team communication.

CONCLUSIONS The study highlights the role of specialist heart failure nurses in delivering education tailored to patients and facilitating better liaison among all clinicians, particularly when dealing with the management of comorbidities and drug regimens. The way in which specialist nurses were able to be caseworkers for their patients was perceived as a method of ensuring coordination and continuity of care.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	heart failure, diagnosis/prognosis, patient education, comorbidities, medications, unplanned hospital admissions
Subjects:	A300 Clinical Medicine B700 Nursing
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing
Depositing User:	Paul Burns
Date Deposited:	18 Jan 2019 17:30
Last Modified:	11 Oct 2019 14:30
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/37667

Downloads