[Nursing strategies in health promotion of long-term patients]

The purpose of the study, carried out in the Health Centre of Järvenpää, was to examine how directors of nursing and nurse managers perceived the health status of their long-term patients and how they thought health could be promoted by means of nursing strategies. The approach of the study was phenomenological, and the data were produced by the nurses themselves who wrote down their own ideas on the subject. The resulting qualitative data were then analyzed and interpreted by means of theme and model analysis. According to the conceptions of the directors of nursing and nurse managers, the long-term patient continues to enjoy certain aspects of health; this can be perceived as wellbeing. The patient accepts his current situation, participates in his care and meets his needs. Promoting health by means of nursing strategies is possible. 1) if the nursing practitioner knows both the past and present of her patient as well as his needs and wishes, and 2) if the organization facilitates implementation of individual patient care; a well functioning primary p6rsing model was seen as an ideal system. The following nursing strategies for promoting health came up in the study: the way of performing the work, protecting the patient against social death, creating a beneficial care environment and supporting the patient in the final stages of his life. The nursing care of long-term patients was regarded as demanding. The results of the study seem to imply that the way the nursing leaders perceive the health status and health promotion of long-term patients may differ from the perceptions of nursing practitioners.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)