Possible causes of experiencing problems with sick leave questions in telephone nursing

The effect of a short educational intervention in social insurance medicine: A randomized controlled trial

Aim

To evaluate the effect of an educational intervention in social insurance medicine with Registered Nurses.

Design

Randomized controlled trial.

Methods

The trial was performed in 20 primary healthcare centres in Central Sweden. The centres were randomly assigned as intervention or control. All Registered Nurses working with telephone nursing at the centres were invited (N = 114); out of these 100 agreed to participate and responded to a questionnaire at the beginning and end of the trial. Fourteen questions in the questionnaire dealt with professional background and were used as exposure variables and were analysed using nominal logistic regression.

Results

Registered Nurses in the centres randomly assigned for the intervention experienced handling sick leave questions as less problematic after the intervention than those in the control group. This indicated that the intervention was associated with a positive effect. However, due to the rather small study population, the effect was inconclusive.

Gaining role clarity in working with sick leave questions-Registered Nurses' experiences of an educational intervention

AIM

To describe how a short educational intervention in social insurance medicine was experienced by Registered Nurses and what changes it brought to their work with sick leave questions in telephone nursing.

DESIGN

Qualitative explorative interview study.

METHODS

Interviews with 12 purposively sampled Registered Nurses were conducted and analysed using manifest content analysis.

RESULTS

The intervention increased Registered Nurses' knowledge of the sick leave process and changed their work habits as they now have more of the skills needed to handle sick leave questions. In this way, they gained role clarity in their work with sick leave questions. The new knowledge included rules and regulations, actors' roles and patients' experiences. Learning from peers, reflecting and having the opportunity to ask questions were also described as increasing their knowledge. The skills following the participation were described as knowing what to say and do and knowing where to turn for support.