Nurse-Assisted Remote Patient Monitoring for Self-Management Support to Patients With Long-Term Illness-A Qualitative Multimethod Study.

AIM: To explore patients and nurses' experiences of digital self-management support following participation in a remote patient monitoring intervention.

DESIGN

An exploratory qualitative multimethod study.

METHODS

The study was conducted at two Norwegian university hospitals between January 2022 and February 2023. Data were obtained through semistructured interviews of 17 patients with heart failure, 10 patients surgically treated for colorectal cancer and eight nurses. The data collection also included excerpts from chat messages between patients and nurses obtained from the digital platform during January and February 2024. Data were analysed using abductive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The analysis revealed three themes: (1) raising illness awareness through RPM technology, (2) establishing a mutual collaboration in self-management challenges and (3) fostering a continued engagement in health behaviour change. The themes captured patients and nurses' experiences of receiving and providing digital self-management support. The analysis also identified a unifying key theme: 'bridging technology and self-management support through remote caring encounters', which firmly connected the three themes.

CONCLUSION

Remote patient monitoring appeared to benefit both patients and nurses by altering patients' self-management routines and the nurses' workflows. Furthermore, applying the theory of technological competency as caring in nursing to remote patient monitoring interventions may help ensure that the patient-nurse relationship is not weakened as technology advances.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND PATIENT CARE: Remote patient monitoring interventions have the potential to become a valuable tool in modern healthcare, enabling effective communication and collaboration between patients and nurses while also ensuring patient-centred care. However, future development of remote patient monitoring interventions should include nursing support.

IMPACT: This study addresses remote patient monitoring and digital self-management support from the perspectives of both patients and nurses. The findings may have an impact on remote nursing, patient satisfaction and strategies to improve digital follow-up care for patients with long-term illnesses.

REPORTING METHOD: The authors adhered to the EQUATOR guidelines through the SRQR reporting method.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution.