Associations Between Nurse-Patient Interaction and Sense of Coherence Among Cognitively Intact Nursing Home Residents.
Jorunn Drageset, Siw Eriksen Taasen, Birgitte Espehaug and 5 others
PMID 32700622WHAT IT FOUND
Residents who rated nurse-patient interaction more positively reported a stronger sense of coherence.
Being taken seriously, understood, helped with ailments, and listened to were the behaviours most consistently linked with that sense.
Key findings
01Residents who rated nurse-patient interaction more positively also reported a stronger total sense of coherence after age and sex were taken into account.
02Four specific relational experiences remained linked to sense of coherence after adjustment: nurses taking the resident seriously, understanding the resident, making possible efforts to relieve ailments, and listening interestingly.
03The association held for feeling life events are understandable and manageable, but not for finding them meaningful, in adjusted analysis.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study measured residents' perceptions at one time, so it cannot show that nurse-patient interaction causes a stronger sense of coherence. Only cognitively intact residents were included, so it does not tell nurses how to interact with residents with dementia. Residents answered many questions, and fatigue may have affected responses. The sample came from Norwegian public nursing homes, so it may not apply elsewhere.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The study received funding from the Norwegian Council of Research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that better nurse-patient interaction causes a stronger sense of coherence. The study measured both at the same time using residents' reports, so it cannot show that changing nurses' behaviour changes residents' coherence.