Nursing capacity building in health coaching with hospitalised chronic heart failure patients: a quasi-experimental study.

BACKGROUND: Difficulty in adherence to treatment and self-care behaviours is a leading cause of preventable readmission in people with chronic heart failure (CHF). Although there is evidence of benefits of health coaching for the management of this situation, few interventions have been tested in the hospital setting. AIM: To evaluate a coaching programme (H-Coaching) designed to develop nursing capacity in health coaching for chronic heart failure inpatients. METHODS: A quasi-experimental pre-post study including all nurses in a single centre cardiology ward (N = 19). The intervention consisted of two training packages: (1) five theoretical-practical sessions on health-coaching competencies, emotional intelligence, communication and support of chronic heart failure patients in their illness in the hospital setting; and (2) training sessions seven months after the first training package to reinforce the theoretical and practical knowledge. On four occasions, the Competence Instrument of Health Education for the Nursing professional was used to measure nurses' knowledge, skills and attitudes in health coaching for chronic heart failure patients. RESULTS: The difference between the preintervention and postintervention scores were statistically significant for knowledge [mean difference = 1.00 (95% CI -1.45 to -0.51; p = 0.000)], skills in general [mean difference = 0.50 (95% CI -1.41 to -0.21; p = 0.015)] and personal/social skills [mean difference = 1.00 (95% CI -1.10 to -0.01; p = 0.048)]. While attitudinal and affective domains did not differ, there were differences in knowledge and skills. CONCLUSION: The H-Coaching programme proved to be effective for building nursing capacity in health coaching CHF inpatients. Similar programmes designed to improve knowledge in verbal and nonverbal communication techniques, and skills for coaching interventions adapted to meet the needs of individual patients, should be tested in future interventional experimental studies. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05300880. IMPACT STATEMENT: To our knowledge, this is the first nursing training intervention in health coaching for chronic heart failure the inpatient setting. This study has demonstrate improvements in both the knowledge and personal and social skills of cardiology nurses with regard to the development of health coaching in a hospital setting. Given the study design, further research is warranted. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: Many patients with chronic heart failure have problems in adhering to the treatment and self-care behaviours and this is one of the main causes of preventable readmission. To promote self-care, patients need to be empowered to integrate these habits into their daily lives and we should implement innovative strategies to achieve this. Health coaching is an ideal alternative to this but very few nurses in the hospital cardiology setting are experienced in health coaching. Our study has shown preliminary results demonstrating that a structured theoretical and practical training programme for nurses can improve nurses' knowledge and skills in health coaching for inpatient patients with chronic heart failure. This study provides an opportunity for future research to demonstrate whether nurses with this training have a positive impact on the health outcomes of chronic heart failure patients and, more specifically, on their levels of self-care and empowerment.

Nurses' Perceptions of the Clinical Nurse Specialist Role Implemented in a Highly Specialized University Hospital in Spain: A Qualitative Study.

PURPOSE/AIMS: To explore nurses' perceptions of clinical nurse specialist practice as implemented in a highly specialized university hospital in Spain. DESIGN: A descriptive qualitative study was carried out in 3 inpatient wards, with a clinical nurse specialist within the team, at a high specialized university hospital in Spain. METHOD: Semistructured interviews were conducted by purposive sampling with 17 selected nurses with at least 2 years of professional experience who voluntarily agreed to participate and signed the informed consent form. Analysis of the qualitative data was conducted according to Burnard's method of content analysis. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist was used. RESULTS: Four main categories emerged from the analysis of the data: "qualities of the role-holder," "role competencies in practice," "integration with the team," and "impact of the role" on nursing, the patient, and the organization. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study have interesting implications for the development and implementation of clinical nurse specialist practice in healthcare organizations. They also provide evidence of the benefit of implementing clinical nurse specialist practice for improving the quality of care, patient outcomes, and healthcare efficiency.

Nursing students' experience of providing frontline COVID-19 support: A qualitative study.

Understanding the unique experience of nursing students providing frontline support in COVID-19 hospital wards is crucial for the design of strategies to improve crisis management and mitigate future pandemic outbreaks. Limited research concerning this phenomenon has been published. This qualitative study aimed to understand the experience of providing support from COVID-19 frontline nursing students' perspective. Online interviews were conducted with nine nursing students from April to May 2020; interview data were analyzed by content analysis using Burnard's method. Six main categories emerged from the data analysis: "experiencing a rapid transition from student to professional," "fear and uncertainty of the unknown," "resilience throughout the crisis," "sense of belonging to a team," "shared responsibility," and "importance of the profession." Based on these findings, multicomponent strategies that function in parallel with practical contexts should be developed to enable students to diligently adapt their abilities to their new role and cope with health crises.

Experiences of frontline nurse managers during the COVID-19: A qualitative study.

AIM: To explore experiences of frontline nurse managers during COVID-19. BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated care provision and healthcare management around the world. Nurse managers have had to face the challenge of managing a crisis with precarious resources. Little research has been published about the experiences of nurse managers during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive study of 10 frontline nurse managers at a highly specialized university hospital in Spain was carried out. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between June and September 2020. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist was used for reporting. RESULTS: Six themes emerged: constant adaptation to change, participation in decision-making, management of uncertainty, prioritization of the biopsychosocial well-being of the staff, preservation of humanized care and 'one for all'. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for the experiences of nurse managers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, analysing these experiences has helped identify some of the key competencies that these nurses must have to respond to a crisis and in their dual role as patient and nurse mediators. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Knowing about the experiences of frontline nurse managers during the pandemic can facilitate planning and preparing nurse managers for future health disasters, including subsequent waves of COVID-19.