• Susanna Sandelius and Anna Carin Wahlberg.
• Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
• Scand J Caring Sci. 2020 Sep 1; 34 (3): 658-665.

Aims And ObjectiveTo describe telenurses' experiences of monitoring calls in telephone advice nursing to parents of children with gastroenteritis.BackgroundIn previous studies, making monitoring calls is mentioned as a method used by telenurses to assess the need for care. MonitoringTHE terms 'care-seekers', 'care-seeker' and 'careseekers' are used inconsistently in the article. Please suggest which one to follow. We suggest Care-seeker calls in telephone advice nursing have been described as when telenurses call care-seekers back once or twice after an initial call. Calls from parents of children with gastroenteritis are common, and many of these calls result in telenurses providing self-care advice.MethodsNineteen telenurses from two healthcare call centres in Sweden were interviewed. Data were analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis.ResultsOne main category, four generic categories and eleven sub-categories emerged. The telenurses described how working with monitoring calls aimed to provide self-care at home in a patient-safe way. Their focus on the parents aimed at increasing their feeling of security and focus on the child aimed at ensuring patient safety. Monitoring calls also provided a learning opportunity for parents and telenurses, and the possibility of relieving pressure on healthcare services. The findings indicate that the use of monitoring calls aims to provide a patient-safe form of telephone advice nursing.ConclusionThis study shows that many parents feel insecure when their child has gastroenteritis, and the use of monitoring calls may be an effective approach to help them feel more secure at home with their sick child.© 2019 Nordic College of Caring Science.

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