Visiting Nurse's Skills for Understanding of Home Resident Elderly Patients' Will with Regard to Terminal Care

Abstract

This study examines the skills by which visiting nurses understand the will of their home resident elderly patients with regard to terminal medical care. Data were collected from 12 nurses with regard to their method of determining their patients' will concerning terminal medical care using semi-structured interviews. The data obtained were analyzed using content analysis.The visiting nurses' understanding of their patients' will was based on two key factors: status and skill. Status consisted of six categories, such as "it is uncertain when the terminal period starts;" "the patient is unaware that he or she is at the terminal stage;" "the circumstances change;" and "many patients are unable to communicate." Skill comprised eight categories, such as "understanding the patient's will from how he or she would like to spend their time;" "understanding the patient's will through their day-to-day communication;" and "interpreting the patient's will from their lifestyle." Visiting nurses use these skills in coping with the difficult issue of understanding their patients' will.