Recruitment into palliative care research studies: a common challenge

Abstract

This project explores the use of analogue videophones between rural palliative care nurses and their more remote general nursing colleagues caring for palliative care patients in surrounding communities. The videophones were easily transported and were most often used when the general nurses were visiting patients' homes where they plugged the videophones into the telephone line. This supplemented the specialist palliative care visits. The nurses completed questionnaires to document their experience. The major advantages cited by the palliative care nurses were that vision enhanced their communication with the patients and travelling time was saved, while the remote nurses believed that access to palliative care expertise was improved. The major disadvantages were the limitations of the equipment available and dropout during calls, while technophobic nursing staff and the high turnover of remote staff made it difficult to develop expertise in using these phones. Videophones are useful in extending the outreach of palliative care nurses.