The present situation and issues of collaboration between nurses and care workers in providing medical care in nursing home for elderly

Abstract

［Purpose］To clarify the present situation and issues of collaboration between nurses and care workers in providing medical care in nursing home for elderly． ［Method］A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted among 319 nurses and 335 care workers working in 70 care facilities in City A regarding their personal attributes, facility outlines, and the present situation of collaboration when providing medical care． ［Results］Valid responses were received from 93 nurses （29.2%） and 118 care workers （35.2%）． For the present situation of collaboration in medical care, tube feeding and suction had, for both nurses and care workers, “nurse is the main performer,” and “nurses and care workers cooperate”．On the other hand, diet assistance for persons with a high risk of aspiration had “nurses and care workers cooperate,” “care worker is the main performer”．From comparing the answers of the nurses and care workers, the following tendencies were observed: self-occupations exercised “observation,” “judgment,” and “evaluation” more than the other occupations． ［Conclusion］It is important to examine the role sharing of “observation,” “judgment,” “implementation,” and “evaluation” for each medical care procedure, based on the professionality of nurses and care workers, as well as their efficiency in these matters．