Difficulties and challenges in the field of nurses providing home care services

Abstract

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the characteristics of the institution providing home care service, the difficulties that nurses experience in home care service, the difficulties in patient care and their educational needs. Materials and Methods: The universe of the study consisted of 54 nurses working in the home care unit of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality as of the study period. Fifty-four home care nurses who worked in the unit between February and March 2018 and agreed to participate in the study were included in the study. Data were collected with a questionnaire form based on literature information and observations. In the first part of the questionnaire form, there are questions about the socio-demographic characteristics of home care nurses and the functioning of their professional and institutional work. In the second part, there are 5-point Likert-type questions under five headings: difficulties related to the institution, difficulties experienced by the nurses, difficulties related to the physical environment at patients' home, difficulties related to patients and their relatives, and difficulties related to the office environment. Percentage distribution, simple and one-way analysis of variance (t-test and One-Way ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Results: Most of the nurses are women aged 30 and over, graduated from healthvocational high school and working in the institution for 1-3 years. Eighty-one percent of the nurses have difficulties in providing services. The most difficult patient group is the ones who are angry and refuse treatment/ care. The group, which has the most difficulty in communication, is the relatives of the patients. It has been determined that the most difficult problem for nurses is not knowing what they will encounter in the house they go to for the first time. Another difficulty is that patients and their relatives often do not comply with the recommendations. Conclusion: To strengthen and ensure continuity of services, it is necessary to take precaution to support employees who are effective in-service provision and to eliminate the difficulties they experience. © 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.