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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe patients' and relatives' complaints to the local Patients' Advisory Committee about their encounters and communication in health care. METHODS: Complaints (n=105) regarding patients' and relatives' dissatisfaction with communication and encounters in health care, registered at a local Patients' Advisory Committee between 2002 and 2004, were included. The texts were analysed using content analysis. RESULTS: Three categories were identified: "Not receiving information or being given the option to participate", "Not being met in a professional manner" and "Not receiving nursing or practical support". Insufficient information, insufficient respect and insufficient empathy were described as the most common reasons for a negative professional encounter. CONCLUSION: Patients and relatives experienced unnecessary anxiety and reduced confidence in health care after negative professional encounters. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The complaints reported to the Patients' Advisory Committee could be used more effectively in health care and be regarded as important evidence when working with quality improvement. To systematically use patient stories, such as those obtained in this report, as a reflective tool in education and supervision could be one way to improve communication and bring new understanding about the patient's perspective in health care.

The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of patients who complain about negative interactions with health professionals in a surgical setting. The study was based on interviews with patients (n = 15) who had contacted their local Patients’ Advisory Committee to report their negative interaction with health professionals in a large university hospital in Sweden. Exploring the experiences of patients who report negative interactions may be a starting point for learning about the patients’ views of the health care organisation, and this information may contribute to quality improvement. The interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Patients’ experiences of negative interactions are described under three main themes: ‘having lost confidence’, ‘feeling like a nuisance’ and ‘feeling abandoned and lonely’. Negative interactions with health professionals caused long-term consequences for patients, including suffering, insecurity, and worry. It also reduced their confidence in upcoming consultations. From the patients’ perspective a caring relationship with health professionals and reliable, appropriate, and timely information are vital to high quality care. Patient access to information and positive interactions with health professionals should be routine quality indicators in the surgical care unit. In the process of quality improvement, all health professionals need to be involved in setting goals, making small tests of changes, and evaluating outcomes. Patients’ stories of negative interactions could provide the impetus for professional reflection sessions in the surgical care unit and for education for all health professionals to develop new competence in patient relations

Surgical nurses' different understandings of their interactions with patients: a phenomenographic study The aim of this study was to identify and describe different ways surgical nurses understand their roles and interactions with patients and their families in a surgical care setting. The surgical nurse has an important role in supporting and encouraging the patient during the hospital stay. It can be a challenge for the nurse to quickly establish a trustful relationship with the patient. The assumption is that nurses' interactions with patients are affected by their understanding and expectations of the roles in the nurse-patient relationship. A qualitative interview approach was used and the interviews were analysed using the phenomenographic method. A strategic sample of 17 registered nurses in two hospitals in Sweden was interviewed. In the analysis four ways of understanding the nurse's role in interactions with the patient were identified: (A) Focusing on medical treatment, following prescribed instructions, and maintaining routines; (B) Providing information, giving service, and coordinating care and treatment; (C) Seeing patients as vulnerable people and helping and supporting them as individuals; and (D) Inviting patients to participate in the caring process and encouraging them to take responsibility in their own care. Seeing each patient as a person with individual needs and personal resources. The first way of understanding, A, focuses on the work task; the other three understandings focus on the patients, but differ in how the nurses see them as people. Understanding A represents a restricted and task-oriented approach, whereas the others are more patient-focused, but also more complex. To realise patient-centred care, nurses should pay attention to all aspects of the interaction. Nurses need to have time at ward meetings or in supervision to discuss and become aware of different ways of understanding their interactions and relationships with patients. In this way new areas of professional development may be opened up.

Background: Organizational changes in surgical care are requiring patients to become more responsible for their own care, both before and after surgery, and also during recovery. Involving patients in their care is vital to improving quality of care and patient safety.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the ‘Tell-us’ card on patients’ perceptions of quality of care, with a specific focus on patient participation. Another aim was to evaluate the use of the Tell-us card from the patients’ perspective.

Design: A quasi-experimental design with an intervention group and control groups was used. The patient's self-written Tell-us card was introduced as the intervention.

Setting: The study was conducted in two surgical care units at a Swedish university hospital.

Participants: A consecutive sample of patients admitted from the waiting list and from the emergency department was included (n = 310). The inclusion criteria were surgical patients with a hospital stay of at least one day. Patients who were younger than 18 years, not able to speak or write in Swedish, or unable or unwilling to give informed consent to participate were excluded.

Methods: Quality of care was assessed using the questionnaire ‘Quality from the Patient's Perspective’. The patients included in the intervention group were asked to write what was most important for them during the day or just before discharge on patient-written Tell-us cards.

Results: The use of the Tell-us card resulted in significant improvements (5 out of 17 items) in patients’ abilities to participate in decisions about their nursing and medical care. The patients found the Tell-us card more useful in their interaction with registered nurses and assistant nurses than with physicians.

Conclusions: The use of the Tell-us card improved patients’ participation in some areas of nursing and medical care in the surgical care units. The Tell-us card is an uncomplicated and inexpensive tool that could be an important step towards improved patient participation in the surgical care unit. More research is needed to evaluate the use of the Tell-us card in different hospital units and over a longer period of time.