Abstract
The aim of the study was to understand the meaning of patient transfers from the respective viewpoints of physiotherapists and registered nurses (RNs). A patient transfer has been defined as a work task where health care personnel assist a patient from one location to another, here a transfer from bed to a wheelchair.
Training in patient handling and moving skills in the health care and social care services aims to increase the skills of the participants and thus prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders. A deeper understanding of the meaning of patient transfers could bring a new dimension to the training and the work to prevent the disorders.
Six physiotherapists and six RNs were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed and interpreted by using a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach inspired by the philosophy of Ricoeur. The interpretation was in three steps: first a straightforward reading for an overall understanding; second a structural analysis, where meaning units were identified and interpreted, and finally a third step, where these units were related to the whole and interpreted as a whole.
The result indicated that the physiotherapists and the RNs talked about patient transfers from different perspectives. The physiotherapists focused on the patients' rehabilitation, while the RNs discussed the transfers as a part of the patients' daily care, where the nurses' own health and safety was important. Four main areas appeared: the aim of the transfer, the time of the transfer, the work technique used and the cooperation involved. The aim of the transfer was regarded differently by RNs and physiotherapists. The time available for the transfer provided the frame of the transfer. The importance of not getting hurt and the cooperation in connection with the transfer were matters they discussed. It was shown that there were unclear lines of responsibility for the distribution of work in patient transfers between the physiotherapists and the RNs.
Trust is important for a transfer to be calm and safe. Patient transfers can be described as a process of problem solving to be reflected upon and taken into consideration. The organisation of work in patient transfers is of great importance in that it can either facilitate or hinder a smooth transfer.