Telephone advice nursing: parents’ experiences of monitoring calls in children with
gastroenteritis
Sammanfattning
A common reason for calling a telephone advice nurse is
gastroenteritis symptoms in children. A monitoring call is
a follow-up call from the telephone nurse to the care seeker
in order to follow up on given advice and make a
new assessment. The aim of the study was to describe
the parents’ experiences of monitoring calls in telephone
advice nursing in children with gastroenteritis. A qualitative
interview method was chosen and data were analysed
inductively with a qualitative latent content analysis.
Ten parents, nine mothers and one father were interviewed.
Four main categories and 13 subcategories were
identified and described as useful, and the main categories
were convenience - parents found it convenient to get
access to self-care advice at home, confirmation - the
interaction between the telephone nurse and the parent
seemed to become deeper and closer as a result of the
monitoring call, support - in a vulnerable situation receiving
further information and an opportunity to let the
telephone nurse monitor the sick child and guidance - to
be guided through the most acute phase in the child’s
gastroenteritis symptoms. Monitoring calls seemed to be
experienced as a security enhancing, positive opportunity
and a robust complement to seeking care at a healthcare
facility. The results of the study indicate how inhabitants
can receive expert advice, support and guidance for care
and provide a useful basis for Swedish Healthcare Direct
(SHD) to develop the modalities for monitoring calls.
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons.