Patients' perspectives on engaging in their healthcare while hospitalized.
J Clin Nurs. 2018 Aug 09;:
Authors: Jerofke-Owen T, Dahlman J
Abstract
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine patients' experiences and preferences for engaging in their healthcare while hospitalized.
BACKGROUND: Promoting patient engagement or involvement in healthcare has become an important component of contemporary, consumer-oriented approaches to quality care. Previous research on patient engagement highlights that preferences for engagement are not assessed while hospitalized, leading to patient role confusion and frustration.
METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients from January to March 2017 to examine their experiences and preferences for engaging in their care while hospitalized on medical-surgical units in the United States. Inductive thematic analysis was used to uncover the themes from the interview transcriptions. The reporting of research findings followed the COREQ checklist.
RESULTS: Seventeen patients, eight male and nine female, aged between 19-83 years old were interviewed. Patients had a difficult time articulating how they participated in their care while hospitalized, with the majority stating there were few decisions to be made. Many patients felt that decisions were made prior to or during hospitalization for them. Patients described their engagement through the following themes: sharing the subjective, involvement of family, information-gathering, constraints, "I let them take care of me", and variability.
CONCLUSIONS: Engagement is a dual responsibility of both nurses and patients. Patients' experiences highlight that engagement preferences and experiences are not universal between patients, speaking to the importance of assessing patient preferences for engagement in healthcare upon hospital admission.
RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The articulation of what patients actually experience in the hospital setting contributes to improved nursing practice by offering insight into what is important to the patient and how best to engage with them in their care. The constraints that patients reported facing related to their healthcare engagement should be used to inform the delivery of future engagement interventions in the acute care setting. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
PMID: 30091494 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]