Older Home-Living Patients' Perceptions of Received Home Nursing and Family Care

Studies focusing on older patients' perceptions of the nursing care, and their experiences related to receiving family care, are sparse. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe how older home nursing patients perceived the care they received from both the home nurses and their family. Structured interviews were used to collect data among 242 persons aged 75+ years who received home nursing, and 193 persons receiving family care. Perceptions about the amount and the quality of nursing care were investigated. Dependency, relationship and safety were focused in the questions about the family care. Descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U test, the chi-square test, Spearman's rho and stepwise multiple regression were used in the analyses. The level of satisfaction with the home nursing was high. Nevertheless, areas of improvement were identified: a lack of continuity in the care, the nurses' shortage of time, and a lack of information and communication. The majority of the study group was comfortable with receiving family care, and did not perceive their care providers as worn out. More than half of the group was not confident that their family could extend their help if needed.