Abstract
BACKGROUND
Navigating the complex health-care system requires the patients to have comprehensive knowledge, active participation, and self-efficacy in health management to effectively engage in planned activities that include diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation, to ensure a high quality of life and successfully prevent disease-related complications.
AIM
This study aims to investigate which activities nurses in hospital settings perform to support patients with heart failure to increase health literacy and navigate effectively through the health-care system.
METHODS
Based on qualitative research, the data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 11 nurses from hospitals where patients with heart failure are treated. After reviewing and analyzing the transcribed interviews, a qualitative content analysis of the text followed.
RESULTS
Based on an inductive approach, we first identified coding units, which were grouped into 10 subcategories, and these into five categories: General health literacy, digital literacy, communication health literacy, interprofessional collaboration, and navigation through the health-care system. We found that the treatment of patients with heart failure varies in Slovenian hospitals.
CONCLUSION
Inequality in the treatment of patients between different hospitals highlights the need for a coordinated approach in the Slovenian health-care system. It is crucial to establish uniform national guidelines that would define treatment standards, ensure evidence-based patient care, and thus reduce the disparity in the quality of treatment between different medical institutions.