Interprofessional collaboration from nurses and physicians ­ A triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data / Interprofessionelle Zusammenarbeit Pflegefachpersonen und Ärzteschaft. Eine Triangulation quantitativer und qualitativer Daten

Background: Interprofessional collaboration between nurses and physicians is a recurrent challenge in daily clinical practice. To ameliorate the situation, quantitative or qualitative studies are conducted. However, the results of these studies have often been limited by the methods chosen. Aim: To describe the synthesis of interprofessional collaboration from the nursing perspective by triangulating quantitative and qualitative data. Method: Data triangulation was performed as a sub-project of the interprofessional Sinergia DRG Research program. Initially, quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed separately in a mixed methods design. By means of triangulation a "meta-matrix" resulted in a four-step process. Results: The "meta-matrix" displays all relevant quantitative and qualitative results as well as their interrelations on one page. Relevance, influencing factors as well as consequences of interprofessional collaboration for patients, relatives and systems become visible. Conclusion: For the first time, the interprofessional collaboration from the nursing perspective at five Swiss hospitals is shown in a "meta-matrix". The consequences of insufficient collaboration between nurses and physicians are considerable. This is why it's necessary to invest in interprofessional concepts. In the "meta-matrix" the factors which influence the interprofessional collaboration positively or negatively are visible.

[Hospital discharge preparation: enhancing self-care competence of patients after minimally invasive hip arthroplasty]. / Austrittsvorbereitung: Selbstpflegekompetenz fördern bei Patient(inn)en nach minimal-invasiver Hüftendoprothetik.

Increasing numbers of hip replacement implant surgeries in Switzerland today are minimally invasive. Patients undergoing such procedures become mobile faster and are discharged from hospital to home within an average of four days. Using a qualitative descriptive design, this study examined how post-operative self-care is taught to patients in the orthopaedic department of a rehabilitation hospital after a minimally invasive hip arthroplasty and explored ways to optimise such teaching methods. Data were collected by conducting three focus groups with nine nursing professionals and expert interviews with the chief surgeon and the assigned physiotherapist. Data were analysed by using qualitative content analysis procedures. Results showed that teaching to enhance self-care competence of patients was not carried out systematically. Instead, the primary focus was to inform and prescribe rather than empower patients. Empowerment, however, would be necessary to assure adherence to the treatment regime. Hospital discharge often takes place surprisingly early and prevents assessment-based counselling of patients. The researchers concluded that the introduction of the minimally invasive surgical technique requires that the multidisciplinary rehabilitation team adapts its teaching methods. Self-care confidence in patients should be enhanced by following participatory clinical pathways. This demands modification in discharge and rehabilitation teaching plans to make them patient-oriented, and the plans should be supported by the entire team and the management.