Telephone nursing interventions in ambulatory care.

Telephone nursing practice is becoming a major nursing activity in ambulatory care settings, yet little is known about the type and extent of nursing interventions that occur during telephone interactions. A pilot study was conducted in two sites to see whether nursing diagnoses and interventions could be captured and related to nursing care during telephone consultation. This initial pilot demonstrated that nurses have an appropriate role in telephone interactions and that standardized nursing language can be used in telephone nursing to document nursing care despite the many challenges in its use in the field.