• Yusuf Çelik, Neşet Hikmet, Fatih Şantaş, Abide Aksungur, Gülsen Topaktaş, and İlkay Sevinç Turaç.
• Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Healthcare Management, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
• Health Soc Care Community. 2017 May 1; 25 (3): 1199-1208.

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to determine the roles, expectations and problems of patient companions and to develop solutions to the difficulties encountered by the nurses, patients and their companions. A qualitative approach with semi-structured face-to-face interviews was used during May and June 2014 to collect data. A convenience sample of participants was selected from the nurses, patients and their companions. Content analysis was used for the data. The results of this study revealed that the need for companions is important to the current Turkish healthcare system, but it has many drawbacks. As companions are witness to a patient's declining health and family, social and financial problems, their role should be to support their patients emotionally or socially, but they should not perform medical tasks. Therefore, the agencies responsible for managing the use of patient companions should regularly review its function by communicating often with the patients and their caregivers. Open communication between patient companions and all those responsible for patient care could improve the present difficulties which exist.© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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