Table 4 Category 'circumstances' and quotations of the subcategories 'motivating factor', 'organisation', 'sphere of activity' and 'tool'

Motivating factor

"It's just that which is the charm of the job" (Interview 1,3)

"It's that which makes everything else meaningful, to have a comprehensive view" (Interview 7)

Organisation

"and therefore I think that really having separate districts is good, if you want to see the entirety" (Interview 6,7)

"For me it is just when you come home to the elderly and so on that one sees not only the person, and they have been in contact with you earlier, but one sees the whole person, how they live" (Interview 5,7)

"I think that it is a little bit dangerous to say that we should specialise. GPs are not specialists. They have a general doctor's competence and I think that we as district nurses have a general nurse's competence or whatever we can call it, it is what we are trained as" (Interview 6)

Sphere of activity

"in preventive work I see a comprehensive view, how we can prevent more, it is in primary care where I see it, the comprehensive view" (Interview 6)

Tool

"There is the consultation, communication so to say, also a way to come to insight and to see for yourself . . . the comprehensive view of a situation, we need a tool really to draw this out" (Interview 1)