Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare family caregivers' burden and satisfaction with visiting nurses' perceptions about caregivers.' Methods: The subjects included 79 caregiver-nurse dyads of frail elderly who received visiting nursing services. The study used demographic data questionnaires, the Japanese versions of the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (22 items), and the satisfaction subscale (9 items) of Caregiver Appraisal Scale. Family caregivers' data were collected by interviews and nurses' data were collected by self-administration. Results: The results revealed the low degree of agreement between caregivers and nurses. As differences, nurses' perceptions were significantly higher than caregivers' perceptions on 10 items of burden including "Do you feel that your relative asks for more help than he/she needs?" and 2 items of satisfaction including "Do you really enjoy being with impaired person?" Caregivers' perceptions were significantly higher than nurses' perceptions on 2 items of burden including "Do you feel your relative is dependent on you?" and 1 item of satisfaction including "I do pretty much what I have to do, not what I want to do, in relation to impaired person." Conclusion: These results indicated that nurses had a tendency to estimate caregiver's burden and satisfaction more than caregiver's them. In order to accurately assess caregiver's burden and satisfaction, visiting nurses may need to encourage caregivers to express their feelings, and to accept their feelings while providing care.
