Abstract
The purpose of this study is to determine the level of recognition of home care services and to provide basic data for implementation of home care services. Data collection was carried out between December 2004 and January 2005 by surveying 88 nurses and 40 physicians working at a general hospital and 28 physicians working at different clinics in the Seoul metropolitan city area. The results of this study were as follows: 1. Home care services were recognized by $94.2\%$ of nurses, $77.5\%$ of physicians and $92.9\%$ of clinic physicians. The main sources of information for most of them were medical and nursing journals. 2. The percentages of staff regarding find home care services as necessary for the institutions were $88.6\%$ of nurses, $74.4\%$ of physicians and $57.1\%$ of clinic physicians. All of them anticipated that home care services would maintain 'continuous care' and 'long-term patient care'. 3. The percentages of staff willing to refer their patients to home care were $95.5\%$ of nurses, $100\%$ of physicians and $87.1\%$of clinic physicians. However, only $7.1\%$ of clinic physicians were willing to refer actively. 4. Most nurses and physicians replied that a majority of test-related services is suitable for home care services. However, among medication-related services, intravenous injections were not suitable for home care services. Among treatment-related services, most nurses and physicians replied that Levin tube feeding, oral and nasal suction, simple dressing, perineal care, and enema were suitable for home care services, but incision and drainage, and tracheostomy tube change were not suitable for home care services. In conclusion, for the implementation of hospital-based home care services, it is necessary to educate nurses and physicians on the present condition and precedent at other hospitals.