Conclusion
Because of a shift of care from hospitals to home care, the use of ICT in communication implies need for new strategies in nursing care. The physical environment and the distance become less important. This study indicates that using ICT improved nursing care at home by permitting increased accessibility, providing a more direct communication and control over the ill person’s situation and by the resulting savings in time. This can be interpreted as the DNs reaching a more trusting relationship with the ill person living at home. However, the use of ICT cannot replace physical presence in nursing care, but it can serve as a complement to home nursing care. The participating DNs stated that using ICT meant that they sometimes missed the opportunity to see the ill person. Therefore, ICT with pictures and sound, to enable communication between seriously chronically ill people living at home and their DNs need to be developed. This study gives support for further research in this area but studies with a large sample are needed to strengthen the credibility of the results.