Nurses' Experiences When Introducing Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in an Outpatient Clinic: An Interpretive Description Study

Abstract

Background Application of patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) seems to be a step toward person-centered care and identifying patients' unmet needs. Objective To investigate the experiences of nurses when PROMs were introduced in a hematological clinical practice as part of a multimethod intervention study. Methods The qualitative framework was guided by the interpretive description (ID) methodology, including a focused ethnographic approach with participant observations and interviews. The instruments introduced were the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 and the Outcomes and Experiences Questionnaire. Analysis was inspired by Habermas' critical theory. Results The analysis revealed 2 predominant themes of nurses' experiences: "PROMs are only used when there is time - which there rarely is"and "PROMs cannot be used without a strategy, just because they are present."Conclusions Nurses' experiences with PROMs depended on the systems' rationale, resulting in limited capacity to use and explore PROMs. Nurses believed that PROMs might have the potential to support clinical practice, as PROMs added new information about patients' conditions but also identified needs within supportive care, leaving the potential of PROMs uncertain. Simply introducing PROMs to practice does not necessarily actuate their potential because use of PROMs is dependent on institutional conditions and mandatory tasks are prioritized. Implications for Practice This study contributes knowledge of nurses' experiences when introducing PROMs in a hematological outpatient clinical practice. Findings can guide future PROMs research within the field of nursing.