Nurses' Experiences Empowering Hospitalized Patients

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Patient Empowerment
• Healthcare Communication

Background:

• Patient empowerment is crucial in acute care settings.
• Understanding nurses' perspectives on facilitating patient empowerment is essential for improving care quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore acute care nurses' experiences with patient empowerment.
• To identify facilitators and barriers encountered by nurses during the patient empowerment process.
• To understand innovative strategies nurses employ to overcome empowerment barriers.

Main Methods:

• Four focus groups were conducted with 34 acute care nurses from Midwestern US hospitals.
• Data were collected between February and April 2015.
• Qualitative data analysis explored nurses' experiences, facilitators, barriers, and strategies related to patient empowerment.

Main Results:

• Facilitators included therapeutic relationships, communication, education, patient autonomy, support systems, and hope.
• Barriers comprised conflicting information, time constraints, patient anxiety, inadequate support, low accountability, and demoralization.
• Nurses utilized innovative strategies to overcome identified barriers.

Conclusions:

• Effective patient empowerment in acute care relies on strong nurse-patient relationships and clear communication.
• Addressing barriers such as time constraints and conflicting information is vital for successful empowerment interventions.
• Future interventions should integrate nurses' innovative strategies to enhance patient empowerment in inpatient settings.