Feeling safe and motivated to achieve better health: Experiences with a partnership-based nursing practice programme for in-home patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Aims and objectives: To explore chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients' experiences with a partnership-based nursing practice programme in the home setting. Background: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease suffer from psychological and physiological problems, especially when they return home after hospitalisation from exacerbation. Many express a need for information and knowledge about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Partnership as practice is a patient-centred framework providing an individualised practice for each patient. This study intends to achieve a nuanced and improved understanding of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients' experiences with a partnership-based nursing practice programme comprising home visits from a respiratory nurse after hospital discharge, alongside interdisciplinary collaboration. Design: This study has a qualitative design with interviews. Methods: Six individual semi-structured interviews collected in 2012-2013 constitute the material. Interviews were recorded, transcribed to written text and analysed using systematic text condensation. Results: Three key themes were identified: to be seen, talked with and understood; healthcare support at home-continuity, practical support and facilitation; and exchange of knowledge. However, there were two generic themes that permeated the material: feeling safe and comforted, and motivation to achieve better health. Conclusions: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can experience feeling safe and comforted, and be motivated to make changes in order to achieve better health after participating in a partnership-based nursing practice programme that includes home visits from a respiratory nurse and interdisciplinary cooperation after hospital discharge. To feel safe is of great importance, and how this relates to the patient's ability to cope with illness should be explored in further research. Relevance to clinical practice: The results suggest that the partnership-based nursing practice programme that includes home visits and interdisciplinary collaboration can be a good approach to meeting the complexity of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patient's health needs.