Background:

In Sweden, during the year 2021, a total of 1,342,441 ambulance assignments were carried out nationally. Prehospital care is provided by healthcare professionals and involves the care given to patients before arrival at the hospital, which includes assessing, caring for, and transporting critically ill and injured patients. Nurses in prehospital care encounter patients with various life circumstances daily and play a pivotal rule in society by offering close and high-quality care to patient of all ages. Prehospital care encompasses both the nursing science and biomedical perspectives, demanding nurses’ ability to handle a multitude of different ambulance assignments.

Aim:

This study aimed to describe the nurse´s experiences of caring for patients in prehospital care.

Method:

A literature-based study of nine qualitative articles, and one article with mixed method according to Friberg’s five step model.

Results:

The analysis resulted in two main-themes: The nurse as communicator, which describes how nurses used various strategies to communicate, and conditions for patient-centered nursing care, which highlights the importance of communication both in patient encounters and within the interprofessional team, as well as barriers that could characterize the nurses’ caregiving. Nurses strive to fulfill their nursing responsibilities and adhere to core competencies to achieve safe care that is accessible to all.

Conclusion:

Nurses in prehospital care have the opportunity to take responsibility for patient-centered care by fully utilizing their core competencies, applying a person-centered approach, and creating trusting care relationships.