Relationships between patients, informal caregivers and health professionals in care homes

Commentary on: Lindahl B, Lidén E, Lindblad BM. A meta-synthesis describing the relationships between patients, informal caregivers and health professionals in home-care settings. J Clin Nurs2011;20:454–63.

Implications for nursing practice

• Care delivery in the home creates a unique and potentially challenging set of relational issues for the nurse, client and informal carer.

• The communication skills, values, attitudes and behaviours of the nurse are influential in determining the dynamic of the nurse-client-informal carer relationship in the home.

Implications for nursing research

• Further research is needed to examine the views of stakeholders on the factors that influence nurse-client-informal carer relationships in the home-care setting.

• Further research is needed to examine the success of interventions to promote positive relationships among stakeholders in the home-care setting.