Patients and family members´ perceptions of interprofessional teamwork in palliative care: A qualitative descriptive study.
Pauliina Kesonen, Leena Salminen, Elina Haavisto
PMID 35001462WHAT IT FOUND
Patients and family members judged teamwork mainly by visible nurse and doctor communication, a warm atmosphere and clear roles.
Too many visits or pain made patients unable to take part, so pacing contacts and explaining roles were important to them.
Key findings
01Patients and family members recognised teamwork mainly through visible nurse and doctor collaboration and direct communication between professionals.
02Patients often could not take part when pain or fatigue was severe, and some found too many same-day contacts demanding.
03Family members sometimes could not tell which professionals were involved or whether roles were clear, and some reported communication breakdowns.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only patients and family members were interviewed, so the study cannot show what professionals actually did or whether teamwork was objectively invisible or absent. The sample was purposive and small, with 20 patients and 19 family members from four wards in southern and southwestern Finland, so it may not transfer to other settings. Patients were very ill; interviews were short, sometimes interrupted, and some agreed interviews were cancelled because of condition changes or death. Repeat interviews and member checking were not done because patients' condition was weakening. Two interviewers and the researchers' own assumptions may have shaped the data, although independent checking and discussion were used. Family members' relationships to patients were not determined, and patients and family members were analysed separately, so direct comparisons between linked pairs are not possible.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read invisible teamwork as proof that teams are not working. Some participants simply could not see or identify the professionals, and the study did not compare their perceptions with what the team actually did.