Three Years of Continuous Vital Signs Monitoring on the General Surgical Ward: Is It Sustainable? A Qualitative Study.

Continuous monitoring of vital signs using a wireless wearable device was implemented in 2018 at a surgical care unit of an academic hospital. This study aimed at gaining insight into nurses' and patients' perspectives regarding the use and innovation of a continuous vital signs monitoring system, three years after its introduction. This qualitative study was performed in a surgical, non-intensive care unit of an academic hospital in 2021. Key-user nurses (nurses with additional training and expertise with the device) and patients were selected for semi-structured interviews, and nurses from the ward were selected for a focus group interview using a topic list. Transcripts of the audio tapes were deductively analysed using four dimensions for adoptions of information and communication technologies (ICT) devices in healthcare. The device provided feelings of safety for nurses and patients. Nurses and patients had a few issues with the device, including the size and the battery life. Nurses gained knowledge and skills in using the system for measurement and interpretations. They perceived the system as a tool to improve the recognition of clinical decline. The use of the system could be further developed regarding the technical device's characteristics, nurses' interpretation of the data and the of type of alarms, the information needs of patients, and clarification of the definition and standardization of continuous monitoring. Three years after the introduction, wireless continuous vital signs monitoring is the new standard of care according to the end-users at the general surgical ward.

Nurses' motivations to leave the nursing profession: A qualitative meta-aggregation.

AIM: To systematically provide an overview of the qualitative evidence available on the motivations for nurses to leave the nursing profession. DESIGN: A qualitative systematic review using the meta-aggregation design of the Joanna Briggs Institute. DATA SOURCES: Qualitative studies in English, dating from 2010 until January 2023, were obtained from CINAHL, PsycINFO and PubMed. REVIEW METHODS: Studies were selected using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Quality assessment was done using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research. The assessment of confidence in the review findings was done according to the ConQual approach. RESULTS: Nine papers that investigated nurses' motivations to leave the profession were included. We developed four synthesized findings from 11 synthesized categories and 31 categories to reflect nurses' motivations to leave the profession, including (1) challenging work environment, (2) emotional distress, (3) disappointment about nursing reality, and (4) culture of hierarchy and discrimination. CONCLUSION: This review provides an in-depth and meaningful understanding of motivations for nurses to leave the profession. Among others, poor working conditions, a lack of opportunities for career development, a lack of support from managers, work-related stress, a discrepancy between nursing education and practice and bullying behaviour were motivations to leave the profession, which calls for targeted action to retain nurses in the profession. IMPACT: Findings of this study shine a light on reasons why nurses leave the profession, providing evidence to support nurse managers and policymakers to develop retention strategies to move out of current crisis into recovery of sustainable global healthcare. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: There was no direct patient or caregiver contribution to this study because this study originated from the process of a Master study. However, two of the authors are still involved in clinical nursing practice and provided the necessary link between research and practice.

Nursing leadership to facilitate patient participation in fundamental care: An ethnographic qualitative study.

AIMS: To explore and describe hospital nurses' perceptions of leadership behaviours in facilitating patient participation in fundamental care. DESIGN: An ethnographic interview study. METHODS: Individual semi-structured interviews with 12 nurses with a bachelor's or master's degree working at a university medical centre were conducted between February and April 2021. The interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Six themes were derived from the data: (1) nursing leadership; (2) patient participation; (3) using patients' preferences; (4) building relationships; (5) task-focused nursing; (6) need for role modelling. CONCLUSION: Nurses indicated leadership behaviour to facilitate patient participation in fundamental care as inviting patients to participate and eliciting and supporting patients' preferences. Although nurses also regarded leadership as motivating colleagues to act and enhancing evidence-based practice, they appeared not to practise this themselves about patient participation. Role modelling was indicated as a need for improvement. IMPACT: The findings established that not all leadership behaviours mentioned were used in practice about patient participation in fundamental care. Role modelling and the use of evidence-based practice are needed to increase patient participation. Further research will be necessary to develop and test leadership interventions to improve patient participation in fundamental care.