How is nursing care for stroke patients organised? Nurses' views on best practices

To describe staff nurses' and charge nurses' perceptions of how to organise stroke care.

Many elements are important for high quality care and stroke patients' ability to regain pre-stroke capacities. Among them is how nursing care is organised. Research on the organisation of nursing care in stroke units is sparse.

A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in four inpatient stroke units in Denmark using semi-structured interviews with charge nurses and focus groups with staff nurses. Data were analysed using conventional content analysis. Data from the two groups were analysed 8 months apart.

Five themes emerged: nursing staff competencies focused on high quality care (29%); focus on organising continuity of care (26%); strong culture of collaboration no matter the work environment (19%); staff committed to their patients (13%); continuity of care maintained during hospital discharge transitions (13%).

Organisation of care to maintain continuity is important for high quality care and includes assigning patients permanent designated nurses who are responsible for interdisciplinary care coordination. Other important elements include nurses' competencies, collaboration, commitment and resources.

To improve quality care, the nurse managers should implement processes that strengthen continuity across the care spectrum and among all disciplines.