An exploratory study on pre-hospital nursing care

Abstract

Pre-hospital care involves the initial emergency care given to injured persons by a health professional in the community setting prior to hospital admission. In Malta nurses are responsible for the delivery of pre-hospital care. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of the emergency nurses about their role in the pre hospital setting in Malta. An exploratory qualitative research study was designed and data was collected by means of a semi-structured interview. Ten nurses working at the Admitting and Emergency Department agreed to participate voluntarily in the study. Findings suggested that the nursing care carried out in the pre-hospital setting is viewed as unique and diff~rent from the care given in other acute care settings. Additionally, nurses appear to attend to both the physical and the psychological needs of the patients. Furthermore communication between the health care professionals in the pre-hospital setting was deemed important in the care given. Education, training and experience seemed to be essential for nurses to be able to maintain a high level of care. Recently, specific pre-hospital courses and training were introduced. As in the past, nurses used to gain their knowledge through informal learning and actually by doing the emergency work itself. The findings also suggested that the role of the nurse in this setting could be improved by increasing the number of staff, providing an autonomous pre-hospital service as well as increasing education and training. Overall, this study ha-, indicated that there is still some room for improvement in the current pre-hospital care delivery system. In view of these findings, several recommendations for further research, education and training, and for practice were put forward.