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Nurses' experience of managing adults living with multimorbidity : A qualitative study
Whitehead, Lisa Palamara, Peter Babatunde-Sowole, Olutoyin Oluwakemi Boak, Jennifer Franklin, Natasha Quinn, Robyn George, Cobie Allen, Jacqueline
Whitehead, Lisa
Palamara, Peter
Babatunde-Sowole, Olutoyin Oluwakemi
Boak, Jennifer
Franklin, Natasha
Quinn, Robyn
George, Cobie
Allen, Jacqueline
Abstract
Background
The number of adults living with two or more chronic conditions is increasing worldwide. Adults living with multimorbidity have complex physical, psychosocial and self-management care needs.
Aim
This study aimed to describe Australian nurses' experience of care provision for adults living with multimorbidity, their perceived education needs and future opportunities for nurses in the management of multimorbidity.
Design
Qualitative exploratory.
Methods
Nurses providing care to adults living with multimorbidity in any setting were invited to take part in a semi-structured interview in August 2020. Twenty-four registered nurses took part in a semi-structured telephone interview.
Results
Three main themes were developed: (1) The care of adults living with multimorbidity requires skilled collaborative and holistic care; (2) nurses' practice in multimorbidity care is evolving; and (3) nurses value education and training in multimorbidity care.
Conclusion
Nurses recognize the challenge and the need for change in the system to support them to respond to the increasing demands they face.
Impact
The complexity and prevalence of multimorbidity creates challenges for a healthcare system configured to treat individual disease. Nurses are key in providing care for this population, but little is known about nurses' experiences and perceptions of their role. Nurses believe a person-centred approach is important to address the complex needs of adults living with multimorbidity. Nurses described their role as evolving in response to the growing demand for quality care and believed inter-professional approaches achieve the best outcomes for adults living with multimorbidity. The research has relevance for all healthcare providers seeking to provide effective care for adults living with multimorbidity. Understanding how best to equip and support the workforce to meet the issues and demands of managing the care of adults living with multimorbidity has the potential to improve patient outcomes.
Patient or Public Contribution
There was no patient or public contribution. The study only concerned the providers of the service.
Keywords
experiences, multimorbidity, multiple chronic conditions, nursing, qualitative
Date
2023
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Advanced Nursing
Book
Volume
79
Issue
7
Page Range
2514-2524
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY-NC 4.0
File Access
Open
Notes
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.