‘First line healthcare’ is offered via telephone in many Western countries. The overall aim of this thesis is to describe Telephone Nursing (TN) from three viewpoints: telenurses, parents calling for their children, and operation managers. Four empirical studies were conducted. Telenurses described their work in five different ways: ‘Assess, refer and give advice to the caller’, ‘Support the caller’, ‘Strengthen the caller’, ‘Teach the caller’ and ‘Facilitate the caller’s learning’, which all constitute a TN ‘work map’. Authentic paediatric calls between parents and telenurses revealed that 73% of callers were mothers and children were aged between 5 days and 14.5 years. The top three contact reasons were ear and skin problems, and fever, with a median call length of 4.4 minutes. More than half of the calls resulted in referrals and 48% received self-care advice. The likelihood of fathers being given referrals as a result of their call was almost twice as high as that for mothers, while mothers were almost twice as likely to receive self-care advice as fathers. Parents described their degree of worry and trust that influenced their decisions whether to contact SHD or not. Their calls were carefully prepared, and the parent calling often depended on family routine. Parents reported to follow recommendations. Most relied upon their own intuition if further worried, but some indicated they would never seek healthcare unless it was recommended. Operation managers described four main goals of TN work: ‘create feelings of trust’, ‘achieve patient safety’, ‘assess, refer and give advice’, and ‘teach the caller’. Equitable healthcare was regarded as important, whereas health promotion was not considered as part of the goals. Conclusion: The studied TN viewpoints present concordance and discrepancies. Paediatric health calls appear mostly to be a woman-to-woman activity. Telenurses’ increased gender competence might increase TN safety. For that matter, telenurses’ collaboration with parents and making parents aware of holding the ultimate responsibility for their child’s condition is important. Goals of TN work and their relationship with healthcare obligations such as equitable healthcare and health promotion need further clarification. The viewpoints described in this thesis may contribute to the development of TN.

<p>Telefonen har blivit ett redskap för människor som söker kontakt med hälso- och sjukvården vilket har medfört krav på ökad tillgänglighet till den telefonrådgivning som ges vid hälsocentraler. Telefonrådgivning på hälsocentral utförs av distriktssköterskor och är en svår, viktig och ansvarsfull arbetsuppgift som dessutom kräver tålamod och flexibilitet. Telefonrådgivning medför ibland svåra prioriteringar för distriktssköterskan. Arbetsuppgiften upptar mera av distriktssköterskans arbetstid än tidigare. Syftet med studien var att få kunskap om hur distriktssköterskorna upplever telefonrådgivning som arbetsuppgift och hur de upplever att dokumentera i samband med telefonrådgivning. Tio distriktssköterskor intervjuades. I resultat framkom att informanterna upplevde att arbetet i telefonrådgivning innebär att ta snabba beslut, en del beslut är svåra och vissa beslut upplevdes som obekväma. Informanterna upplevde att de alltid måste balansera olika krav. Informanterna beskrev att de känner tacksamhet för sin egen kompetens och erfarenhet som kommer väl till användning vid de ständiga prioriteringarna och den fördelning av resurser som förekommer. Informanterna beskrev flera olika känslomässiga upplevelser. Informanterna menade att tiden ofta är för begränsade för varje patientärende och finns tidsutrymme för noggrann dokumentation, känns det som en bonus.</p> / <p>The phone has become an important tool för people seeking contact in health services this has led to greater demands on the availability of telephone advice given at the health centers. Telephone counseling at health centers conducted by the district nurses, is a difficult, important and responsible task which requires both patience and flexibility. Telephone counseling involves sometimes difficult priorities for the district nurse. Telephone counseling has resulted in a change of district nurse tasks and occupies more of the district nurse working hour than before. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into how district nurses experience working with telephone advice and how they experience the ability to write in the patient records. Ten district nurses were interviewed for the study, all working in health center with telephone counseling and with home nursing, reception work or child health. The results found that the informants experienced that working in a telephone counseling means above all, to make quick decisions, some difficult decisions and some decisions are perceived as inconvenient. The informants experienced that they always have to balance various demands. The informants described that they feel gratitude for their own skills and their own experiences for use at all these priorities and allocation of resources at the present. The informants had various emotional experiences. The informants believed that time is often too limited for each patient case and if time is sufficient for careful documentation, it feels like a bonus.</p>

Telefonen har blivit ett redskap för människor som söker kontakt med hälso- och sjukvården vilket har medfört krav på ökad tillgänglighet till den telefonrådgivning som ges vid hälsocentraler. Telefonrådgivning på hälsocentral utförs av distriktssköterskor och är en svår, viktig och ansvarsfull arbetsuppgift som dessutom kräver tålamod och flexibilitet. Telefonrådgivning medför ibland svåra prioriteringar för distriktssköterskan. Arbetsuppgiften upptar mera av distriktssköterskans arbetstid än tidigare. Syftet med studien var att få kunskap om hur distriktssköterskorna upplever telefonrådgivning som arbetsuppgift och hur de upplever att dokumentera i samband med telefonrådgivning. Tio distriktssköterskor intervjuades. I resultat framkom att informanterna upplevde att arbetet i telefonrådgivning innebär att ta snabba beslut, en del beslut är svåra och vissa beslut upplevdes som obekväma. Informanterna upplevde att de alltid måste balansera olika krav. Informanterna beskrev att de känner tacksamhet för sin egen kompetens och erfarenhet som kommer väl till användning vid de ständiga prioriteringarna och den fördelning av resurser som förekommer. Informanterna beskrev flera olika känslomässiga upplevelser. Informanterna menade att tiden ofta är för begränsade för varje patientärende och finns tidsutrymme för noggrann dokumentation, känns det som en bonus. / The phone has become an important tool för people seeking contact in health services this has led to greater demands on the availability of telephone advice given at the health centers. Telephone counseling at health centers conducted by the district nurses, is a difficult, important and responsible task which requires both patience and flexibility. Telephone counseling involves sometimes difficult priorities for the district nurse. Telephone counseling has resulted in a change of district nurse tasks and occupies more of the district nurse working hour than before. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into how district nurses experience working with telephone advice and how they experience the ability to write in the patient records. Ten district nurses were interviewed for the study, all working in health center with telephone counseling and with home nursing, reception work or child health. The results found that the informants experienced that working in a telephone counseling means above all, to make quick decisions, some difficult decisions and some decisions are perceived as inconvenient. The informants experienced that they always have to balance various demands. The informants described that they feel gratitude for their own skills and their own experiences for use at all these priorities and allocation of resources at the present. The informants had various emotional experiences. The informants believed that time is often too limited for each patient case and if time is sufficient for careful documentation, it feels like a bonus.

Bakgrund: Telefonrådgivning är ett område som ständigt växer inom sjukvården. Telefonrådgivningens syfte är att göra en bedömning avseende vilket vårdbehov som finns, ge råd, samt hänvisa den vårdsökande till rätt vårdinstans. Arbetet som telefonsjuksköterska kan vara komplext med höga krav. Klinisk erfarenhet kan således underlätta i många avseenden. Syfte: Syftet var att sammanställa sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av telefonrådgivning.Metod: En kvalitativ litteraturstudie har genomförts innehållande tio vetenskapliga artiklar som har granskats, analyserats och sammanställts. Databaserna CINAHL och PubMed användes för datainsamling. Resultat: I resultatet framkom sex teman. Exempel på teman som fångats är bland annat att ge och ta råd, dokumentation och datoriserade beslutsstöd och att medvetandegöra stressen. Att visa empati och bygga tillit med den vårdsökande var viktigt för att vinna dennes förtroende och på så vis underlätta samtalet. De datoriserade beslutsstöden lovordades men ansågs även vara ett hinder vissa gånger när den personliga erfarenheten var av annan åsikt. Konklusion: Sjuksköterskorna upplevde ofta arbetet med telefonrådgivning som givande och något som gynnade deras kompetensutveckling. Det kunde emellertid även vara stressigt och upplevas som problematiskt då resurserna var begränsade. Att läsa in och tolka vad den vårdsökande förmedlade var essentiellt eftersom de visuella ledtrådarna saknades. / Background: Telephone consulting is a field that constantly grows within health care. The aim of telephone consulting is to make an assessment regarding which health needs that exists, give advice, and refer the care seekers to the appropriate healthcare provider. The work as a telenurse can be complex with high demands. Clinical experience can therefore facilitate in many regards.Aim: The aim was to compile nurses experiences of telephone consulting.Method: A qualitative literature review was done containing ten scientific articles that has been reviewed, analyzed and compiled. The databases CINAHL and PubMed was used for data collection.Findings: In the result six different themes emerged. Examples of themes caught are among others to give and receive advice, documentation and compututerized decision support and to be aware of the stress. To show emphaty and to build trust with the care seeker were important to win their confidence and in that way facilitate the telephone consulting. The computerized decision supports were commended but was also seen as an obstacle when the personal experience were of a different opinion. Conclusion: Nurses often experienced the work of telephone consulting as rewarding and something that benefited their skills development. However, it could also be stressful and experienced as problematic as resources were limited. To read in and interpret what the care-seeking was conveyed was essential because the visual clues were lacking.