Registered nurses' experiences of non-nurses being involved in nursing care to hospitalised patients – A focus group study

The aim of this study was to explore registered nurses’ experiences of non-nurses being involved in nursing care of hospitalised patients at a Danish university hospital. A total of 16 registered nurses from 12 different inpatient wards where non-nurses were employed (employees without a nursing education) participated in five focus groups. The data were examined using thematic analysis. This article followed the COREQ guidelines. Three themes were generated: (1) balancing support: RNs’ experiences with non-nurses in indirect and direct nursing care; (2) managing complexity: RNs’ experiences with delegating nursing care to non-nurses; and (3) navigating responsibility: RNs’ experiences with coordinating patient care amidst non-nurse involvement. Replacing registered nurses with non-nurses makes delivery of nursing care complex. On the one hand, involving non-nurses in the delivery of indirect nursing care eases nurses’ workloads and releases time to spend with patients. Furthermore, quality of care can be improved if the competencies of the non-nurses’ match patients’ care needs. On the other hand, the involvement of non-nurses in direct nursing care complicates nurses’ delegation practice and causes uncertainty about their nursing role.