Implementation facilitators and barriers of person and family-centred emergency care

Abstract

Background: At the time of the research, the nurses in the designated hospital’s emergency department did not implement person- and family-centred care to the detriment of patients and families. They were, however, eager to embark on the implementation of the recommendations of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario for person- and family-centred care.

Aim: This study therefore aimed to explore and describe the possible implementation facilitators and barriers prior to the use of the association’s recommendations.

Setting: The study included eight nurses with different specialisation fields and more than 5 years of experience in an emergency department.

Methods: During focus group interviews with nurse participants, the domains of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research were used to explore whether the recommendations of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario could be used to structure person- and family-centred care in the emergency department of the designated hospital in the Mpumalanga province in South Africa. The framework guided the deductive data analysis.

Results: The identified facilitators referred to a positive match between the recommendations and existing practice in the department. The barriers referred to the department’s fast-paced work environment in which a combination of emergency and primary care is delivered.

Conclusion: One of the facilitators referred to the participants being used to ongoing training by and communication from management to support their adjustment to improvements. One of the barriers referred to the department’s fast-paced work environment.

Contributions: The article contributes to practice improvement with a description of the use of frameworks to explore possible facilitators and barriers prior to endeavours to implement recommendations.