Aim: The overall aim of the thesis was to describe the experiences of awake patients during surgery under regional anesthesia. In addition, the aim was to develop a model for intraoperative care that can support and enhance patients’ well-being during the intraoperative period.   Methods: Study I was a patient interview study guided by a reflective lifeworld approach. In study II a philosophical reflection of the findings from study I was carried out. In study III a hermeneutic approach inspired by Ricoeur and Gadamer was used in order to interpret video recorded material. In study IV a hermeneutic approach inspired by Gadamer was used to synthesize the findings in studies I-III transformed into an intraoperative caring model.  Overall main findings: The analysis shows that being awake during surgery can be compared with walking a tightrope because of ambiguous feelings. The proximity and presence of the nurse anesthetist (NA) anchors the patient in the present and strengthens the patient’s feeling of trust. The temporary disruption in the relationship between the body and the world due to regional anesthesia means that the patient’s being in the world is exposed to revolutionary experiences. Gaps between the patient’s experiences and the situation can be bridged over when the NA acts as the patient’s bodily extension and links the patient as a subject to the world in the intraoperative situation. From the patient’s perspective this calls for the NA’s proximity and genuine presence in the ‘intraoperative caring space’. When the NA’s performance of his/her professional duties clashes with the patient’s existential being in the intraoperative situation the need of present presence from the NA is crucial. Conclusions: The findings contribute to knowledge development about intraoperative care and raise awareness that care for the awake patient cannot be performed on formal routines that might disregard the uniqueness of each patient’s situation. The model can be used as a tool to encounter awake patients’ existential needs in the intraoperative situation and to further enlighten NAs about the possible impact of their proximity, interaction and communication behavior in the delivery of intraoperative nursing care.

<p>Previous research and patient complaints to the Swedish Patient Support Committee shows that there is a lack of substance in the patient-nurse relationship. This may suggest that it can be difficult for health care to live up to health-care law which requires it to be of good quality, based on dignity and respect and designed so that the patient is an active participant and can make their own decisions when it comes to their health care. For a better understanding of what a dignified patient-nurse relationship is, this study aims to clarify what the patient values as good patient-nurse relationship and describe how they have experienced the patient-nurse relationship during their stay at an emergency care department. The study is a descriptive cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, where the population consisted of patients who were cared for at an emergency care department in the County of Västmanland, Sweden during 2007. The sample consisted of 93 patients which were asked to answer a questionnaire. The results show that patients who were cared for, answered positively in terms of the patient-nurse relationship, when they felt welcome to the department (62,1 %), when they were treated with deference and respect (59,3 %) and when the nurses showed they cared (57 %). A total of 11 % of the patients experienced a violation of their integrity and a sense of powerlessness towards health care. The results confirm previous research which emphasizes the importance of paying attention to patients' needs and requests before the dissatisfaction and lack of good patient-nurse relationship has arisen. This is necessary in order to improve and develop the positive experience of caring for the patient, and thus raise the quality of care.</p> / <p>Klagomål till patientnämnden visar på att det finns brister i bemötandet vilket också styrks av tidigare forskning. Det förefaller att det kan vara svårt för sjukvården att leva upp till hälso- och sjukvårdslagen som kräver att vården ska vara av god kvalitet, grundas på respekt, värdighet och utformas så att patienten själv får vara med och ta beslut. För att bidra till mer kunskap om ett värdigt bemötande avser denna studie att belysa vad patienten värderar som ett gott bemötande.<strong> </strong>Syftet var att beskriva hur patienter värderar bemötandet och hur de beskriver att de blivit bemötta av personalen under sin vårdtid på en akutvårdsavdelning. Studien är en deskriptiv tvärsnittsstudie med en kvantitativ ansats där populationen bestod av patienter som vårdats på akutvårdsavdelningar i Landstinget Västmanland under 2007. I studien ingick 93 patienter som vid slutet av vårdtillfället tillfrågats om de ville besvara en enkät. Resultatet visar att det som patienterna skattade att de var mest nöjda med (stämmer precis) ifråga om bemötandet var det välkomnande de fick när de kom till avdelningen (62,1 %), att de blev bemötta med aktning och respekt (59,3 %) samt att vårdarna brydde sig om dem (57 %). Trots det upplevde 11 % av patienterna kränkning av integritet och vanmakt i vården. Resultatet bekräftar tidigare forskning och poängterar vikten av att uppmärksamma patientens behov och begär innan ett missnöje har uppstått. Detta för att kunna förbättra och även utveckla en positiv upplevelse av bemötande för patienten och därmed höja vårdkvaliteten.</p> / Axelina

Background: It is a well-known phenomenon that nurses and other oncology staff have a tendency to ascribe patients with cancer more problems and suffering than the patients themselves report. Aim: The overall aim of the present thesis was therefore to gain increased knowledge and understanding of dis/agreement between patients with cancer and nurses regarding their perception of patients’ situation and of the importance of patient-nurse dis/agreement in clinical practice. Methods: A prospective comparative design was used. Data were collected from a sample of 90 consecutively recruited patient-nurse pairs. Each pair consisted of a patient with cancer, newly admitted to a ward, and a nurse responsible for that patient’s care. Data were collected from the pairs with corresponding self-administrated questionnaires on two occasions: directly after the admission interview and on the patient’s third day on the ward. Results: At the group level, a distinct pattern was shown in which nurses ascribed the patients more emotional distress, less coping resources and a lower quality of life than the patients themselves reported. In short, the results revealed the following clinical importance of patient-nurse dis/agreement. With respect to how nurses act in relation to their perceptions of patients’ emotional distress, patient-nurse dis/agreement did not seem to be important; with few exceptions, nurses’ implemented care did not differ when it was directed at more as compared to less distressed patients. Further, nurses’ general tendency to overestimate cancer patients’ problems and suffering had no influence on patients’ satisfaction with received care and nurses’ satisfaction with provided care. However, patients cared for by nurses who underestimated their level of depression were less satisfied with those nurses’ care. In addition, the more frequently the nurse had implemented care characterized by a trusting relationship, the higher patients’ and nurses’ satisfaction with received/provided care. Conclusions: Initial patient-nurse dis/agreement concerning patients’ situation appears to be of little significance to nurses’ caring behaviour and to patients’ and nurses’ subsequent evaluation of received and provided care.

Previous research and patient complaints to the Swedish Patient Support Committee shows that there is a lack of substance in the patient-nurse relationship. This may suggest that it can be difficult for health care to live up to health-care law which requires it to be of good quality, based on dignity and respect and designed so that the patient is an active participant and can make their own decisions when it comes to their health care. For a better understanding of what a dignified patient-nurse relationship is, this study aims to clarify what the patient values as good patient-nurse relationship and describe how they have experienced the patient-nurse relationship during their stay at an emergency care department. The study is a descriptive cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, where the population consisted of patients who were cared for at an emergency care department in the County of Västmanland, Sweden during 2007. The sample consisted of 93 patients which were asked to answer a questionnaire. The results show that patients who were cared for, answered positively in terms of the patient-nurse relationship, when they felt welcome to the department (62,1 %), when they were treated with deference and respect (59,3 %) and when the nurses showed they cared (57 %). A total of 11 % of the patients experienced a violation of their integrity and a sense of powerlessness towards health care. The results confirm previous research which emphasizes the importance of paying attention to patients' needs and requests before the dissatisfaction and lack of good patient-nurse relationship has arisen. This is necessary in order to improve and develop the positive experience of caring for the patient, and thus raise the quality of care. / Klagomål till patientnämnden visar på att det finns brister i bemötandet vilket också styrks av tidigare forskning. Det förefaller att det kan vara svårt för sjukvården att leva upp till hälso- och sjukvårdslagen som kräver att vården ska vara av god kvalitet, grundas på respekt, värdighet och utformas så att patienten själv får vara med och ta beslut. För att bidra till mer kunskap om ett värdigt bemötande avser denna studie att belysa vad patienten värderar som ett gott bemötande. Syftet var att beskriva hur patienter värderar bemötandet och hur de beskriver att de blivit bemötta av personalen under sin vårdtid på en akutvårdsavdelning. Studien är en deskriptiv tvärsnittsstudie med en kvantitativ ansats där populationen bestod av patienter som vårdats på akutvårdsavdelningar i Landstinget Västmanland under 2007. I studien ingick 93 patienter som vid slutet av vårdtillfället tillfrågats om de ville besvara en enkät. Resultatet visar att det som patienterna skattade att de var mest nöjda med (stämmer precis) ifråga om bemötandet var det välkomnande de fick när de kom till avdelningen (62,1 %), att de blev bemötta med aktning och respekt (59,3 %) samt att vårdarna brydde sig om dem (57 %). Trots det upplevde 11 % av patienterna kränkning av integritet och vanmakt i vården. Resultatet bekräftar tidigare forskning och poängterar vikten av att uppmärksamma patientens behov och begär innan ett missnöje har uppstått. Detta för att kunna förbättra och även utveckla en positiv upplevelse av bemötande för patienten och därmed höja vårdkvaliteten. / Axelina

Aim: This study explores what type of information patients and nurses share with, or provide to, each other, and whether or not the information received was relevant and sufficient for their needs. Background: Information exchange, as part of shared decision-making, is advocated in policy and practice throughout the healthcare sector. Much of the literature on information exchange relates to one-to-one consultations with consultants or GPs. To date, no studies have explored information exchange between patients and nurses in ward settings. Nursing literature on patients’ information needs focuses on one-way information provision from nurses to patients, rather than on two-way information exchange between patients and nurses. Methods: Interactions between patients and nurses were observed and audio-recorded using a remotely controlled audio-recording system. Semi-structured individual face-to-face interviews were then conducted to clarify and add to the observation data. A multiple case study design was used for this study: each case comprised one patient, the nurses caring for that patient, and the interactions between them. A pilot study was undertaken to inform the methods for recruitment and data collection for the main study. Results: The pilot study comprised five cases (patients n=5, nurses n=3). Changes to the recruitment strategy for the main study included surgical patients being invited to participate in the same way as medical patients. There were no difficulties with the data collection methods. The main study comprised nineteen cases (patients n=19, nurses n=22). Information exchange seemed unfamiliar to ward-based nurses. The findings show that information exchange may not be a one-off event but a complex series of interactions. Patients did not distinguish between clinical and non-clinical information in the same way as nurses. Primary reasons for patients’ hospital admission were not discussed and nurses did not share information about nursing interventions. The relevance for patients and nurses differed; patients generally wanted information for reducing anxiety and socialization; nurses wanted information for assessment and care planning. In terms of sufficiency, observation sessions highlighted that insufficient information was provided, often due to lost opportunities and paternalistic practice. However, the majority of patients and nurses perceived that they had exchanged sufficient information. Conclusion: This multiple case study provides insights into the type, relevance and sufficiency of information for patients and nurses in ward settings. In ward settings, information exchange as conceptualised by Charles et al. (1997 and 1999) may be difficult to achieve due to the complexity of patient/nurse interactions. Therefore, there are implications for policy makers as policies are not context specific. However, information exchange may be helpful for reducing patients’ anxieties. The concepts of shared decision-making and information exchange are not part of ward-based cultures and philosophies, which suggests implications for patient and nurse education. Research on information exchange between patients and nurses in other ward contexts may contribute to further understanding of information exchange in ward settings.

Thesis: The main contribution of D. Orem's self-care theory is that, using adequate methods, it leads the nurses to respect patients' own conception of self-care. Key words: Patient - nurse relationships, Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory, D. E. Orem, human actions, respect for autonomy, NANDA taxonomy, non-compliance, responsibility. This dissertation thesis deals with the issues of a relationship between a patient and a healthcare worker, or more precisely a nurse, all from the point of view of patient self-care in the sense of deliberate action that is conducted by the patient for the purpose of sustaining their health and realizing their life plans. Ethical aspects of Orem's Self-Care Deficit Theory consist in the approach to a person that emphasizes the human nature of a human being that develops within the community - among other people, that becomes unique and that cares about their own being. Self-care deficit nursing theory is compared to NANDA taxonomy II with respect to a patient's autonomy. Both approaches to nursing care are studied from the point of view of their assumptions, theoretical basis, the diagnostic process, communication, personal competence of nurses and the aims of health care. Attention is also paid to the situations when a patient is not willing to take part in the...