Feeling rejected or invited: experiences of persons seeking care advice at the Swedish Healthcare Direct organization.

AIM

Swedish Healthcare Direct is an organization staffed by registered nurses who act as telenurses and assess callers' need for care, taking both medical and personal aspects into account. They direct the care seeker to: emergency care (level I), a care center on duty (level II), their regular doctor (level III), or provide advice about self-care strategies (level IV). In this assessment process, the nurse and care seeker should reach mutual agreement. The aim and focus of the present study was to elucidate the care seeker's situation and experiences of the care received after being triaged and directed to level II, although the telenurse in fact assessed their medical problems as corresponding to level III.

METHODS

A total of eight recent Swedish Healthcare Direct users were interviewed in this qualitative study. Data were analyzed by means of content analysis.

RESULTS

Three themes emerged - "feeling trapped", "feeling disrespected", and "feeling invited" - comprising seven subthemes.

CONCLUSION

Care seekers experienced suffering as well as struggling to be allowed to be a patient. When not met by an ethically correct stance, they continued to seek care. In contrast, when they encountered commitment and an ethically correct attitude, their health process began and they had no further need for contact.