Sammanfattning
Background: The cooperation between healthcare personnel regarding the discharge of hospital
patients and their transfer to the local communities for further care has been a challenging task for
the Norwegian health sector. To address this issue, the government introduced a Coordination
Reform, accompanied with incentives to promote better cooperation.
Objective: The aim of the article is to promote an understanding of how interactions between hospital
healthcare personnel and home healthcare nurses function, 2 1/2 years after the implementation of
the Coordination Reform.
Method: The study has a qualitative design. We conducted in-depth interviews with seven home
healthcare nurses from two different municipalities. The phenomenological-hermeneutic approach
constitutes the basis for data analysis and interpretation.
Results: The cooperation seems to function well for nurses working with cancer patients, but appears
challenging to nurses working with other patient groups. Different perspectives on what to prioritise,
characterise the cooperation. The home healthcare nurses perceive that they have limited power and
influence. The nurses also experience limited flow of information.
Conclusion: The failure of hospital health workers and home care nurses to cooperate when hospital
patients are due for discharge, are results of power imbalance and lack of common understanding of
the situation. There is the need for organisational changes to balance the power relations. Actors
need to develop knowledge, the will and the ability to cooperate across the units of the organisations.