Table 2 Examples of the coding strategy
Unit meanings | Initial codes | Categories | Sub-themes | Themes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
‘I have tried to talk to undernourished patients about the importance of eating, and sometimes I understand that it is much more complex than just not eating – it is because they don’t want to live anymore and want to let go’ (GHC 8). | Meeting undernourished patients in difficult situations | The patients situations | It is much more complex than just not eating | Meeting patients with complex nutritional problems |
‘I see that when the patients get medication for nausea, we get much further with the nutritional care treatment’ (HC 6). | Treating underlying symptoms helps | Other factors that affect nutrition | Seeing nutrition as a part of the whole | Meeting patients with complex nutritional problems |
‘We don’t always have the time to ask what the patient wants. We just serve something and are too busy to check whether the food gets eaten’ (GHC 9). | Lack of time to involve patients | Time constraints | Lack of time to individualize care | The structure of the nutritional care |
‘There is no cooperation. I don’t even know who the dietician employed by the municipality is’ (HC 1). | No available dietitian | Lack of interdisciplinary support | Lack of interdisciplinary collaboration in nutritional care | The structure of the nutritional care |