Telephone nursing in Sweden: A narrative literature review

• Published in: Nursing & health sciences Vol. 19; no. 3; pp. 278 - 286
• Main Authors: Kaminsky, Elenor, Röing, Marta, Björkman, Annica, Holmström, Inger K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2017
• Subjects: Attitude of Health Personnel; Cost analysis; Decision making; Decision support systems; Decision Support Techniques; Delivery of Health Care - methods; Digital shapeshifting; Ethical dilemmas; Female; Health care expenditures; Health Care Research; Health-Promoting Work; Humans; Hälso- och sjukvårdsforskning; Hälsofrämjande arbete; literature review; Literature reviews; Male; Malpractice; Medical malpractice; Nurse managers; Nurse-Patient Relations; Nurses - psychology; Nursing; Patient Safety; Patient Satisfaction; Patients; Reassurance; Safety measures; Sweden; Sweden nursing; Telemedicine; Telemedicine - methods; Telephone; telephone communication; telephone nursing; Sweden; Sweden nursing; literature review; telephone nursing; telephone communication
• ISSN: 1441-0745; 1442-2018; 1442-2018
• DOI: 10.1111/nhs.12349

Telephone nursing services are expanding globally. Swedish Healthcare Direct is the largest healthcare provider in Sweden. This paper provides a comprehensive understanding of telephone nursing, as reflected by research on Swedish national telephone nursing, and discusses the findings in relation to international literature. A descriptive, mixed‐studies literature review was conducted. Twenty‐four articles from January 2003 to April 2015 were identified from PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL, and included. The issues explored in this study are how telephone nursing is perceived by callers, telephone nurses, and managers, and what characterizes such calls. Callers value reassurance, support, respect and satisfaction and involvement in decisions can increase their adherence. The telephone nurses' perspective focused on problems and ethical dilemmas, communication, the decision support tool, and working tasks. The managers' perspective focused on nursing work goals and malpractice claims. Concerning call characteristics, authentic calls, incident reports, and threats to patient safety were considered. Telephone nursing seems safe, but gender can play a role in calls. Future research on caller access, equity, and efficiency, healthcare cost‐effectiveness, distribution, and patient safety is needed.