Information exchange in nursing practice: a pilot study

Background: The sharing of information between patients and professionals upholds patient autonomy, aids decision-making, and encourages patient participation in health care. The nursing literature recognises the importance of information exchange, however no studies have looked at information exchange in nursing practice in ward settings specifically.
Aims: The aim of the overall study is to explore information exchange in routine nursing care in ward settings. The purpose of this pilot study was to ensure the feasibility of the main study including: reviewing the research process; examining the procedures for recruitment and consent; and testing the methods for data collection and analysis. This paper will report on the pilot study.
Method: Data were collected from one medical and two surgical inpatient wards using non-participant semi-structured audio-recorded observations of interactions between patients (n=5) and nurses (n=3), followed by individual semi-structured interviews.
Findings: Nurse recruitment was greatly facilitated by meeting with nurses as a group prior to commencement of the study. Difficulties were encountered with recruitment of surgical patients, but not with medical patients. Mornings were a more appropriate time for observation sessions. It did not prove useful to interview participants immediately post observation. Patients and nurses were satisfied with the level of privacy offered during observations and interviews. Preliminary data analysis suggests that lost opportunities, differing priorities and distractions may impinge on information exchange between patients and nurses. These early observations will be followed up in the main study.