Nurses' perspectives on their potential role in advance care planning in home care: A qualitative study

Nurses' perspectives on their potential role in advance care planning in home care: A qualitative study Abstract. Background: Advance Care Planning (ACP) in long-term care in Germany has been identified as a potential area of nurses' responsibility. In the StAdPlan study (DRKS0016886), an ACP intervention in outpatient care was implemented and evaluated: Trained nurses conducted ACP conversations with patients. A comprehensive process evaluation was part of the study. Aim: A partial result of the process evaluation was analysing the perspective of nurses on their potential role as ACP facilitators for outpatients. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with nursing professionals and nursing service managers (n = 42) were carried out prior to the implementation of the ACP intervention. A qualitative content analysis of the recorded interviews was performed. Results: Participants described the importance of ACP in outpatient care, their personal motivation and competence as well as necessary contextual conditions. Nursing professionals are motivated to offer ACP to patients to be able to care for them according to their wishes. For effective ACP conversations, nurse professionals considered in-depth knowledge of ACP, conversational skills and sufficient time resources as necessary. ACP consultations can be a suitable field of action for nurses as they have access and an established relationship of trust with patients. Conclusions: Under certain conditions, nurses' role in offering guidance on ACP in outpatient care was seen as feasible and beneficial. Prerequisites for implementation are financial resources and training for nurses for this service.