Challenges and strategies in RNs handling of medical emergency calls
The purpose of the project is to study the communicative challenges encounters, and strategies used by RNs i emergency calls, and to develop a guide for handling difficult calls.
Start
2022-05-01
Planned completion
2027-12-31
Main financing
Collaboration partners
Project manager at MDU
External project members:
- Med. dr. Hans Blomberg, Region Uppsala /Uppsala University
- PhD student Douglas Spangler Region Uppsala /Uppsala University
- Professor Ulrika Winblad, Uppsala University
About the project
Registered nurses working with medical emergency dispatch calls have complex task. Within a very limited time-frame they should assess the caller's needs, encounter every call in a professional and person-centred way, and prioritize and optimize use of healthcare resources. In interview studies, the RNs report that the amount of difficult calls containing communication problems, aggressive callers and threats has increased.
This challenging environment may led to difficulties in keeping and recruiting competent staff, which may threaten patient safety. The knowledge in the field today builds on self-reported information, while systematic studies are lacking, despite political- and media coverage.
We therefore aim to study the communicative challenges encounters, and strategies used by RNs i emergency calls, and to develop a guide for handling difficult calls. The study has a descriptive and comparative design. Data consists of naturally occurring audio-recorded emergency calls, which are anonymized before inductive and deductive coding.
Project objective
The project objective is to study the communicative challenges encounters, and strategies used by RNs i emergency calls, and to develop a guide for handling difficult calls. The goal is to provide RNs with a supportive tool, to enhance assessments and care for acutely ill och injured callers.
