An Evaluation of the Home Care Nursing Services Conducted jointly by Catholic Churches and Hospital

일부 가톨릭교회와 연계된 병원중심 가정간호사업의 평가

Purpose: This study was performed to evaluate the outcomes of the home care nursing program conducted jointly by thirty two catholic churches and C hospital in Seoul. Method: The subjects included 173 patients who registered for the program during a 4 month-period from November 1, 2004 to February 28, 2005 and received home care services for more than 4 times and 32 professional nurses participating in the program. Using the concept of medical outcome study (MOS), the structure, process, outcome elements were analyzed. Result: 1) A Catholic homecare nursing center and nurses of the C hospital played a central role in providing nursing care, and each church operated its own vehicle from its own office. Home care nurse's job satisfaction was 2.8 out of total score of 4. The major illness was cerebrovascular disease including stroke followed by skeletomuscular disease including degenerative arthritis cancer, and diabetes. Among reasons for accessing the home care nursing program, hypertension management was most prevalent. More than half of the registration was done through catholic churches. Most people who referred the patient to the program was through the church. Most patients received home care nursing 1-2 times a week for 30 to 60 minutes in average and the most frequent type of service provided was basic nursing. 3) The most frequent reason for terminating home care services was death. The change in PPS(Palliative Performance Scale) level from the time of registration and after 4 visits was the same in 45%, decreased in 30%, and improved in 25%. Patient satisfaction was very high, showing 3.4 out of total score of 4. Conclusion: These results proved that the home care nursing program was highly appreciated by subjects and nurses were providing professional care. Thus the two parties involved in the program were actively supporting the program to fulfill their mission. However, several areas needed to be improved such as relating with local community, relating with family doctor, and issue of improving the working conditions for home care nurses.