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A narrative review of acute care nurses' experiences nursing patients with intellectual disability: Underprepared, communication barriers and ambiguity about the role of caregivers
Lewis, Peter Gaffney, Ryan J. Wilson, Nathan J.
Lewis, Peter
Gaffney, Ryan J.
Wilson, Nathan J.
Abstract
Aims and objectives: To describe how nurses experience caring for people with intellectual disability in an acute care setting. Background: Recent advances in the care of people with intellectual disability in hospital are primarily based upon the experiences of people with intellectual disability and their caregivers. Little is known about the experiences of registered nurses caring for people with intellectual disability, yet the experiences of nurses in delivering care largely determine the quality of care experienced by people with intellectual disability and their caregivers. Methods: A narrative literature review using electronic database searches was conducted using variants of the terms disability, nursing and acute care. Results: Through our reading of the recent literature describing the experiences of nurses caring for people with intellectual disability in an acute care setting, we have identified three themes: (1) nurses feel underprepared when caring for patients with intellectual disability, (2) nurses experience challenges when communicating with people with intellectual disability and (3) nurses have ambiguous expectations of paid and unpaid caregivers. Conclusion: The enablers of and barriers to the delivery of nursing care in acute care settings need to be made explicit and researchers and nurses need to collaborate in the development, implementation and evaluation of care delivery strategies. Relevance to clinical practice: Nurses need to be adequately prepared to care for people with intellectual disability. Preparation should include dealing with the complexities of communicating with people with intellectual disability and practical experience of doing so in clinical and educational environments that ensure the safety and dignity of nurses and people with intellectual disability. Nurses need supportive strategies for developing therapeutic relationships with a range of informal and formal caregivers.
Keywords
acute care, experiences of care, intellectual disability, professional communication, registered nurse, therapeutic relationships
Date
2017
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Clinical Nursing
Book
Volume
26
Issue
11-12
Page Range
1473-1484
Article Number
ACU Department
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Open access
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access
Open