Study on the Roles of Visiting Nurses and Nursing Intervention as Perceived by Families Taking Care of Patients at Home

2005 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 15592330
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Community health/Gerontological nurisng
• Research Institution: Kyoto Tachibana University (2005); Mie Prefectural College of Nursing (2003-2004)
• Principal Investigator: KAWAHARA Noriko Kyoto Tachibana University, Assistant professor, 看護学部, 助教授 (00259384)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SUGISHITA Chieko Mie Prefectural College Of Nursing, President, 看護学部, 学長 (60010063)
• Project Period (FY): 2003 – 2005
• Keywords: Family Nursing / Visiting Nurses / depopulated and aging region

Research Abstract

This study considered 1)how those taking care of patients at home in a depopulated and aging region perceive their families, 2)how those caregivers perceive the roles of visiting nurses, and 3)what kind of nursing intervention (roles of visiting nurses) is expected by those caregivers, from the two perspectives : "caregivers' perceptions of the family (i.e., who constitutes "family") and the roles of visiting nurses," and "troubles/problems associated with visiting nursing service, recognized by visiting nurses."
As a result, regardless of their household compositions a household of elderly persons only, a household where several generations live together, or a household that has blood relatives living nearby all study subjects perceived "relatives" as part of their families. The roles of family members were classified into five categories : affection, reason for living, peace of mind, trust, and mutual cooperation. Regarding the roles of visiting nurses, the study results show that man y study subjects regard visiting nurses as a "medical/nursing professional." More specifically, subjects perceive the roles of visiting nurses as : 1)to improve the health status of patients, 2)to provide emotional support for caregivers, and 3)to play the role of mediator between patients, their family members, and their primary care physicians. It was also revealed that troubles/problems occurring in visiting nursing activities are related to the roles of visiting nurses expected by patients and their families. Since visiting nurses are involved in various relationships with patients, their families, their doctors and homecare providers, some troubles associated with the relationship with patients' families were reported.
In the future, based on the findings of these results, it will be necessary to research more instances of troubles associated with the relationship between patients' families and visiting nurses and to develop a family nursing model that incorporates concrete risk management measures.