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Anne Dichmann Sorknæs
Odense University Hospital & Svendborg Hospital, Denmark & The University of Southern Denmark
Keynote: J Nurs Res Pract
When a patient is affected by illness, the whole family is affected. It can be difficult for family members to talk about the challenges the illness presents to them, and find solutions to the challenges. Wright and Leahey have developed a model for Family Conversations, Calgary Family Assessment Model (CFAM) and Family Intervention Model (CFIM). The purpose is to involve and support the patient/family. Theory/Methods: At the Department M/FAM all nursing staff are trained in CFAM and CFIM. M/FAM has set up a nursing clinic for patient/family conversations due to an increased need. All patients and their families who have had contact with M/ FAM and who need it can be offered conversations of 40 minutes duration. Results: Families experience the conversations as a free space where they can talk openly together about what affects them without it only being about care and treatment of the disease. It as a more in-depth conversation, where difficult topics such as death also are discussed. They put into words and heard how they each experience the disease, what ideas they have, what challenges they experience, and they become aware that they do not necessarily have the same experiences. Supported by nurses, they find out for themselves what resources they have in the family and how to cope/solve the challenges. The nurses find the family conversations relevant and meaningful, and it gives great job satisfaction. Conclusions: The clinic have become a huge success. All times are booked. Families express it as a satisfying, different and intense way of talking. It is meaningful and gives great job satisfaction to the nurses. There is great interest in the clinic both among health professionals and families. We believe that the clinic can help recruit and retain nurses in the ward at a time of shortage of nurses. Recent Publications 1. Assessment of the Effectiveness, Socio-Economic Impact and Implementation of a Digital Solution for Patients with Advanced Chronic Diseases: The ADLIFE Study Protocol. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023-02 | Journal article | Author: Borja Garcia-Lorenzo; Ania Gorostiza; Nerea González; Igor Larrañaga; Maider Mateo-Abad; ana Ortega-Gil; Janika Bloemeke; Oliver Groene; Itziar Vergara; Javier Mar et al. , DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20043152 2. Positive experiences from a newly established Clinic for Family Conversations - Important to involve relatives. International Journal of Integrated Care, 2022-11-04 | Journal article, DOI: 10.5334/ijic.icic22119, Part of ISSN: 1568-4156, CONTRIBUTORS: Anne Dichmann Sorknaes; Janne Rasmussen 3. A review on the effects of Shared Decision-Making (SDM) performed with the purpose of implementing SDM in the ADLIFEproject. International Journal of Integrated Care 2022-11-04 | Journal article, DOI: 10.5334/ijic.icic22051, Part of ISSN: 1568-4156, CONTRIBUTORS: Anne Dichmann Sorknaes; Søren Udby; Natassia Kamilla Juul; Camilla Filtenborg Boll; Thea Damkjær Syse; Irati Erreguerena Redondo; Dolores Verdoy Berastegui; Ana Ortega Gil
Anne Dichmann Sorknæs, senior nurse, RN, MSc in Nursing, PhD, works currently as Associate Professor at the Internal Medicine & Emergency Department (M/FAM), Odense University Hospital & Svendborg Hospital and at the University of Southern Denmark. The focus areas of research are mainly family-focused nursing and telemedicine.