Pre-Arrival Instructions in emergency calls: a qualitative study about nurses’ experience in an Emergency Medical Dispatch Center in Tuscany (Italy)

Introduction: the purpose of this study is to analyze the emotional and experiential experience of the Emergency Operations Center Nurses’ who, during an emergency call, give the Pre-Arrival Instructions (IPA) by telephone. The sensations that the operator experiences in these situations despite the fact that there is no direct contact with the bystander, the techniques to increase the effectiveness of communication and any difficulties encountered were investigated.

Materials and Methods: the study was carried out through a short questionnaire aimed at recruiting suitable subjects for research, and a semi-structured interview aimed at understanding the experiential experience in a convenience sample of nurses. Guaranteeing anonymity, the interview was audio recorded via smartphone.

Results: ten interviews were collected and subsequently analyzed according to the principles of the Thematic Analysis. Six issues revealed: emotions emerged during the story, experience during the call, experience at the end of the call, positive outcome of the IPA - strengths and user, positive outcome of the IPA - strengths of the nurse, difficulties encountered.

Discussion and Conclusions: from the themes it emerges that the interviewees for the most part proved to be able to cope with situations of strong emotional stress, they agree on the fact that an educated user and a good use of dialectics improve performance. Getting in touch with the interlocutor makes collaboration easier, and experience gained in the field is more useful than specific courses. Carrying out a defusing at the end of particular situations experienced helps to decompress stress and enriches the experiential baggage of colleagues.