Predicting Patient Follow-Through on Telephone Nursing Advice

Abstract

Although use of telephone advice nursing services continues to grow, little research has addressed factors that affect crucial call outcomes like follow-through on the advice given. This article describes aspects of the advice call process and examines predictors of caller follow-through, using a conceptual model derived from the literature and the authors' preliminary work. Calls to call centers and medical offices of a large health maintenance organization were taped, then content was coded and matched with caller questionnaire (CQ) data. Out of 1,863 participants, 1,489 reported following all the advice. In the final multivariate predictive model, statistically significant predictors of follow-through were patient health status, caller's rating of nurse helpfulness, and the extent to which caller expectations for collaboration were met and the caller understood the advice given. Results suggest that nurses should receive continuous training on effective communication techniques, and advice nurse performance standards that create barriers to communication should be modified.

Impact of a Telenursing service on satisfaction and health outcomes of children with inflammatory rheumatic diseases and their families: a crossover randomized trial study protocol

“…TN includes a wide range of activities including assessing patients’ needs, conducting triage in emergencies, reassuring callers, providing nursing advice, teaching, providing medical information, and referring patients to appropriate care at an appropriate location [43,44]. TN services aim to establish a relationship with the caller, identify the concern, assess the condition, solve problems in collaboration with the caller, and select appropriate solutions [44].…”

“…TN services aim to establish a relationship with the caller, identify the concern, assess the condition, solve problems in collaboration with the caller, and select appropriate solutions [44]. TN has been used in different ways, settings, and purposes.…”

Improvement of communication and interpersonal competence in telenursing – development of a self‐assessment tool

“…, Larson‐Dahn , Wahlberg & Wredling , Valanis et al . ). Since there is a lack of visual contact in telephone advice nursing, special communication competence is needed.…”

“…Valanis et al . () also suggest that performance standards should be established, which can encourage effective communication behaviours, and that ways of measuring these behaviours should be developed and used regularly. Wahlberg et al .…”

Physiotherapists' telephone consultations regarding back pain: A method to analyze screening of risk factors

“…This means that a brief assessment of risk factors (i.e., screening) should be made during the initial telephone contact. Analyses of telephone consultations within health care have focused on various outcomes such as health care use, patient satisfaction (Bunn, Byrne, and Kendall, 2005), adherence to given advice (Moscato et al, 2003;Valanis et al, 2007), and communication skills of the caregiver (Derkx, Rethans, Knottnerus, and Ram, 2007;Derkx et al, 2009). To our knowledge, there is no reliable method to analyze consultations regarding back pain in relation to guidelines for assessment of physical and psychosocial risk factors.…”