‘It's the little things that count’: healthcare professionals’ views on delivering dignified care: a qualitative study

Williams, V., Kinnear, D. and Victor, C. (2016) ‘It's the little things that count’: healthcare professionals’ views on delivering dignified care: a qualitative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(4), pp. 782-790. (doi: 10.1111/jan.12878) (PMID:26931275)

Abstract

Aims: To explore healthcare professionals’ perspectives of dignified care and experiences of providing care. Background: Although ‘care’ and dignity in care are seen as central to the delivery of good care by patients, families and professionals, we still lack a clear understanding of what these, often contested and elusive concepts, mean in the practice setting, particularly from the perspective of healthcare professionals. Design: Interview based qualitative research design. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals working in four UK NHS trusts. Data were collected between June–November 2012. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: Forty-eight healthcare professionals took part in this interview based study. Two main themes that encapsulated how care and dignity in care is enacted by professionals were identified: focusing on the ‘little’ things that matter to both professionals and patients; and improving care by making poor care ‘visible’. Conclusion: Our findings show that the ‘little things’ in care allow professionals to ‘care for’ but also ‘care about’ patients, suggesting that these two aspects of caring become intrinsically interlinked. Our findings also suggest that ‘making poor care visible’ challenges engrained and task rather than human focused care in a non-threatening way, which can be the catalyst for providing care that is caring and dignified.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by The Dunhill Medical Trust[grant number: R93/1108].
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cairns, Professor Deborah
• Authors: Williams, V., Kinnear, D., and Victor, C.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Journal Name: Journal of Advanced Nursing
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0309-2402
• ISSN (Online): 1365-2648
• Published Online: 05 January 2016

Copyright Holders

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<fragment>Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd</fragment>
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• First Published: First published in Journal of Advanced Nursing 72(4):782-790
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher