Telenursing Intervention for Clean Intermittent Urinary Catheterization Patients: A Pilot Study.

ABSTRACT

Telenursing is a promising strategy to make nursing care feasible in different health situations, mainly to help patients with chronic illnesses. The aim in this study was to test the feasibility (acceptability and usability) of a telenursing intervention in care delivery to patients using clean intermittent urinary catheterization. This descriptive study focused on an intervention involving urology outpatients. The telenursing intervention was implemented synchronously by audio calls and chat and asynchronously by e-mail as part of a pilot study. The contact between nurse and patient was undertaken through an active search or on spontaneous demand, in which the patient contacted the nurse when necessary. During the 5 weeks of study, 21 telenursing care sessions took place, including 13 (61.9%) on spontaneous demand and eight (38.1%) on active demand. With regard to the technological resource used, 13 telenursing sessions (61.9%) took place by telephone call and eight (30.1%) by e-mail. The pilot study demonstrated the potential of the telenursing intervention to achieve important results, and as a complement to the patients' traditional health treatment. In addition, it revealed various barriers that need to be overcome for this type of care to take place effectively.