Women's perceptions of telephone nursing care within an antenatal home care program

Abstract

Purpose/problem. Telephone nursing care (TNC) has replaced some home visits to increase efficiency of The Ottawa Hospital Antenatal Home Care Program (AHCP). There is limited published research addressing TNC in similar settings to guide program development. Therefore, chose an evaluation strategy to explore the clients' the researchers and organization perceptions of TNC. Objectives. (1) Perform a systematic literature review of TNC in the high risk antenatal population. (2) Profile high risk antenatal population receiving telephone nursing care. (3) Describe clients' perceptions of telephone nursing care. (4) Explore the feasibility of this methodology for continuous program evaluation and informing development and improvement. Method. A mixed methods approach was used. Two surveys and a semi-structured interview were completed by 13 participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and constant comparative analysis. Results. Sample was similar to the population in diagnosis, maternal and fetal outcomes. Anxiety scores were high and women identified the highest needs related to high risk pregnancy, psychological and information domains. Four main themes emerged: the experience of being at home, perceptions of the telephone care, perceived benefits, and perceived health systems issues.