Why are patient diaries such an under-used method in nursing research?
The use of diaries as a qualitative research tool is reported to offer a wealth of advantages in sociological and nursing research yet they are still only used sporadically (Elliot 1997). This presentation will draw on examples from nursing and health services research that have used diaries, either singly or in mixed methodology studies, to discuss the strengths and shortcomings of diary research. The presentation will then focus on the application of this research tool within the field of quality and patient safety research. It will discuss how the method was adopted to ask patients to reflect on aspects of routine inpatient stays in hospital that caused worry or concern. Twenty elective surgery patients completed a solicited (invited) diary throughout their patient journey from pre-admission to hospital, through to discharge home. The diarists were free to write their individual and personal accounts although guided, in general terms, on its completion. Using themes that emerged fro
