Implementation of Telenursing Within Home Healthcare

Abstract

The implementation of telenursing within home healthcare of leg wounds is an innovative development initiative that focuses on patients and to some extent next-of-kin in collaboration with nurses. Eleven patients and nine nurses participated in the study. The methods for data collection were surveys, field-notes descriptions, and care charts, as well as digital photos of leg wounds and videotaped observations. The results show that the utility of virtual concept is that continual learning takes place for both patients and nurses. The patients felt positively about being able to via videophone see the staff caring for them, and seeing a face inspired a sense of security, which had a calming effect. The learning for nurses lay in the everyday work with leg wounds and their care as experiences were taken advantage of with the assistance of the interactive technique. The nurses felt that their time at work was better utilized and that the virtual communication between patients and nurses constituted a humane complement in home healthcare. Key words: home healthcare, distance learning, telenursing, leg wounds, treatment