Registered nurses' work with sick leave questions by telephone in primary health care.
OBJECTIVE
To describe registered nurses' work with sick leave questions by telephone.


BACKGROUND
In Sweden, when a sick person needs to request a sickness certification, it is common to contact the primary healthcare centre. The main access to primary health care is by telephone, with a registered nurse answering the care seeker's questions, triaging and helping care seekers to the right level of care. Registered nurses' work with sick leave questions has not been studied, except for two qualitative interview studies.


METHODS
A descriptive cross-sectional study.


METHODS
A questionnaire with 120 questions was distributed to 185 registered nurses in one county in central Sweden. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis.


RESULTS
Response rate was 62% (n = 114). Registered nurses (n = 105) in this study talked weekly to persons on, or at risk, for sick leave. A large part (n = 78) felt they had a role in the care of persons on sick leave, consisting of booking appointments as well as acting as a pilot, advisor, caretaker and coordinator. For 74 of 114 registered nurses, it was problematic to handle the phone calls weekly. Measures were 'often' booking appointments with physicians (n = 67) and 'seldom' providing information on social insurance rules ('never' n = 51). The registered nurses expressed a great need for more education.


CONCLUSIONS
Registered nurses in this study reported having a role in the care of persons on sick leave when handling sick leave questions by telephone. The telephone calls were problematic to handle, and the registered nurses expressed a great need for education and training in social insurance medicine.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a need to educate and train registered nurses in social insurance medicine to provide high-quality nursing for patients on or at risk for sick leave.
Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine Section, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.|Centre for Clinical Research Sörmland, Uppsala University, Eskilstuna, Sweden.
Linda
L
Lännerström
Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine Section, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.|Centre for Clinical Research Sörmland, Uppsala University, Eskilstuna, Sweden.
Anna-Sophia
AS
von Celsing
School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden.|Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Health Services Research Section, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Inger K
IK
Holmström
Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine Section, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.|Centre for Clinical Research Sörmland, Uppsala University, Eskilstuna, Sweden.
Thorne
T
Wallman
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D013689:Telephone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014218:Triage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
nursing; primary health care; sick leave; social insurance medicine; telephone nursing