Healthcare Professionals' Descriptions of Contextual Factors Affecting Complex Aortic Surgical Care: A Secondary Analysis Using the Fundamentals of Care Framework

ABSTRACT

Aim

To explore how factors in the complex aortic surgical care context can affect care provision towards patients' postoperative recovery.

Design

Secondary qualitative analysis.

Methods

Results about patients' recovery after complex aortic surgery was presented in focus groups with healthcare professionals in 2022. Reflexive thematic analysis, using the Fundamentals of Care framework, was conducted to explore contextual factors affecting care provision.

Results

Healthcare professionals' descriptions resulted in one main theme: Care provision is challenged by discrepancies in values, goals and norms and unclear responsibilities within the context, and two subthemes: Values, goals and norms determine what care is provided; Taking responsibility for care requires resources, evaluation and feedback.

Conclusion

Healthcare professionals describe care provision as affected by a dynamic integration of contextual factors. Healthcare professionals need to be made aware of their own role in this context. Care provision needs to be guided by feedback from patients and healthcare professionals, and work with patients' resources at both an individual, system and societal level.

Implications for the Profession

The results provide knowledge regarding how contextual factors in dynamic integration can affect care provision in a complex surgical context. Healthcare professionals, leaders and policy makers all have responsibility to focus on patients' values and goals, and empower adequate care through feedback loops and resource management.

Impact

The context-of-care dimension of the Fundamentals of Care framework has been scarcely described. Our results illustrate how an integration of factors affects care provision, where values, goals, and norms affect what care is provided, and responsibility for care belongs to everyone in the care system. The results can contribute to the description of the context-of-care dimension within the framework and enable professionals to understand how they, as part of the context, could affect care towards patient recovery.

Reporting Method

This study adhered to the Equator research reporting checklist: Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research: a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.