Effects on Nurses' Quality of Working Life of an Educational Intervention to Strengthen Their Humanistic Practice

Summary

Haemodialysis (HD) patients constitute a vulnerable population with considerable health needs. They are often older persons with comorbid chronic conditions. Despite the substantial technical care they receive, these patients indicate that the quality of the human relationship that develops with nurses-the pivotal element in the care this population receives-can become therapeutic. This feature of the human relationship constitutes the cornerstone of the humanistic practice (caring practice) that all nurses should adhere to. However, according to some authors, such practice tends to fade over time. In 2012, a pilot study allowed to test an educational intervention based on Watson's Theory of Human Caring, the aim of which was to optimise nurses' humanistic practices. The intervention, first developed in Quebec and adapted in Switzerland by a committee of experts, was delivered to a group of nine HD nurses (Canton of Vaud, Switzerland) and evaluated. Preliminary results (qualitative and quantitative) showed the intervention to be highly feasible and acceptable. Moreover, in terms of preliminary outcomes, participating nurses appeared to strengthen their caring attitudes/behaviours toward HD patients post-intervention. Quantitative analyses of patients' questionnaires showed that HD patients perceived significant changes in nurses' caring attitudes/behaviours and maintained their level of quality of life (QoL) over time, which is a definite gain for this population. In light of these positive results, it is important to pursue this line of investigation in order to examine more accurately the intervention's effects on both nurses and patients. To this end, the investigators propose conducting a mixed-methods cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) to assess the effects of an educational intervention to strengthen humanistic practice among nurses working in HD units in French Switzerland, on perceived quality of the nurse-patient relationship (NPR), nurses' team cohesion, nurses' quality of working life (QoWL), and HD patients' QoL. Knowledge acquired in the course of the study will contribute to strengthen nurses' humanistic practice, a key factor in HD patients' QoL.

Conditions

• Patient-Centered Care

Interventions

OTHER

Educational intervention - humanistic nursing practice

Four educational sessions: * Acquisition of core concepts of caring practice (I) * Acquisition of core concepts of caring practice (II) * Search for meaning: Influencing hope in persons through humanistic practice * Enacting different caring attitudes and behaviours in an intermediary simulation exercise with actor

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universite du Quebec en Outaouais

  collaborator OTHER

• Université de Sherbrooke

  collaborator OTHER

• School of Management and Engineering Vaud

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Université de Montréal

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Lausanne Hospitals

  collaborator OTHER

• Swiss National Science Foundation

  collaborator OTHER

• Institut et Haute Ecole de la Santé la Source

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Philippe Delmas, PhD · Haute Ecole de la Santé La Source

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-09-01

Primary Completion

2018-07-24

Completion

2020-02-01

Countries

• Switzerland

Study Locations