Involving relatives in consultations for patients with long-term illnesses: Nurses and physicians’ experiences:

Background:Due to the major changes occurring in the demographic composition of the world’s population, the number of older individuals is increasing, which puts pressure on the healthcare systems in many different countries. The involvement of volunteers and family members may become necessary to fulfil a patient’s needs for follow-up treatments and long-term care in their homes.Aim:This study aimed to explore how nurses and physicians experienced and addressed ethical challenges when they dealt with relatives in what have traditionally been one-on-one consultations at two Norwegian hospital outpatient clinics.Research Design and Methods:A total of eight nurses and two physicians from two different hospitals participated in individual in-depth interviews. The transcribed interviews were analysed using an eclectic approach called ‘bricolage’ inspired by Kvale and Brinkmann. We combined cross-case thematic and theoretical normative analyses.Ethical considerations:The principles of voluntariness, confidenti...