Telephone nurses’ experiences of managing callers affected by mental illness : A descriptive qualitative study

Mental illness is a global health problem and encompasses many conditions with varying degrees of severity. Telephone contact is often the patient’s initial contact with the healthcare system. This study aimed to illuminate telenurses’ experiences of managing calls with patients affected by mental illness in primary healthcare. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 11 telenurses and a qualitative content analysis was conducted. The COREQ checklist was used to ensure trustworthiness. The analysis revealed three themes, labelled as: ‘Finding a solution to solve and deal with circumstances’; ‘Being emotionally affectedand re-evaluating the situation’; and ‘Using distracting approaches and creating space for reflection’. The results show that tele-nurses adopt different strategies to manage negative and positive situations. This requires telenurses to be adaptable with the patient affected by mental illness as well as within each call and the conditions within the healthcare organization to manage calls with patients affected by mental illness.CC BY 4.0Corresponding author: Margaretha Larsson, School of Health Sciences, Box 408, University of Skövde, SE- 541 28 Skövde, SwedenArticle first published online: June 16, 2022This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.