Abstract
In homes for the disabled elderly, cares are provided primarily for assisting the elderly with their daily activities rather than for assisting them to receive treatment of their illness. Assisting ADLs is nursing proper.
In order to make a realistic suggestion to improve the quality of nursing care given by care team in these homes, we investigated the actual status of services intended for assisting ADLs and the perceptions of the team members concerning the appropriatness of the responsibilities they assumed. The questionnaires were sent to 297 home health aids, 57 nurses, and 18 social workers.
The following were the findings of our investigation.
The nurses assumed responsibility of (1) maintaining respiration, circulation and temperature, and (2) assisting the elderly to receive treatments.
The perception that nurses should be in charge of these 2 care aspects was found to be dominant among nurses themselves and also among home health aids and social workers.
The nurses were found to be cognizant of their responsible position of making judgement and evaluation of care and of providing skilled care.
The attitudes and the perceptions of home health aids and social workers towards assuming responsibility of assisting ADLs were identified.
Thus we suggest how nurses should provide professional nursing in these homes more properly.
