Expansion of Home Health Care: Experience of Nurses and General Duty Assistants: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Home health care services are an extension of the hospital services provided in the home of the patients. These services cover systematic nursing care and professional caregiving to chronically ill and bedridden patients. There are a substantial number of such patients who are immobile or suffer from chronic illnesses such as dementia, cancer, hypertension and similar ill-health conditions where constant care is necessary. The home care services, therefore, range from basic support for conducting the routine daily activities of dressing, grooming, ambulation and preparing prescribed meals to complex nursing services such as feeding through a nasogastric tube, catheter change, administering injections, medications and tending to tracheotomy. There is a growing need for the successful retention of people working in home care. This article provides vital insights into the job experiences of nurses and General Duty Assistants, which have been provided through qualitative findings of the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 40 nurses and 40 General Duty Assistants. Open-ended questions were used to obtain the views of participants, and three primary relationships affecting their emotional state were identified. Relationship with the patient, family members of the patient and agency supervisor were studied. The participants were asked to describe the reasons why they do their jobs and the challenges they face while working in home care. Short-term and long-term recommendations were formulated based on the participant’s narratives.