Objectives：Although some factors related to the willingness to continue working as visiting nurses have been investigated, such as relationships with colleagues at workplace, and relationships with users and families, no factors have been investigated about the staffs in other institutions and with other professions. This study aimed to clarify whether the relationship with staffs in other institutions and with other professions is related to the willingness to continue working as visiting nurses or not.

Methods：The subjects were 390 visiting nurses working at all 139 home-visit nursing stations in A　Prefecture, Japan（valid response rate: 57.1%）. Respondents were asked to indicate their willingness to continue working as visiting nurses, with a score of 0 for never wanting to continue working and a score of 10 for extreme willingness to continue working. Scales evaluating collaboration and support were used to assess relationships with staffs in other institutions and with other professions. Single and multiple regression analyses were performed using the survey item scores as independent variables and scores of willingness to continue working as the dependent variable.

Results：The average scores of willingness to continue working was 7.5 points, with a standard deviation of 2.0 points. The willingness to continue working was related to“opportunities to meet and converse with staffs with other professions in the community,”“having a network for consultation in the community,” and“support from staffs with other professions.”

Conclusion：It was suggested that opportunities to meet and consult with staffs in other institutions and with other professions, networks for consultation, and support from staffs with other professions, are related to the willingness to continue working as visiting nurses.

Aim：The aim of this research is to identify how patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease （COPD）experience life after acute exacerbation.

Methods：We conducted unstructured interviews with five COPD patients discharged from the hospital after acute exacerbation, and analyzed their answers qualitatively and descriptively applying a phenomenological approach.

Results：Seven themes were identified in the way the COPD patients experienced life after acute exacerbation: difficulty breathing becoming part of their life; listening to the voice of their own body and adapting as necessary; rebuilding their life in consideration of regrets about the past; ongoing efforts to maintain their current quality of life; feeling thankful for being able to lead a normal life; having hope for life amid awareness of their mortality; and living with the disease while fulfilling their potential.

Conclusion：This research showed that the COPD patients were ready to die due to the decline in respiratory function, but they lived proactively, looking back on their past and transforming their own way of life to survive. It suggests that holistic understanding and support of patients requires looking not only at physical symptoms but also at past life experiences.

Purpose：To examine how communication with care recipients differs between home care nurses and home care giver and how they perceive the communication of their counterparts.

Methods：Using questionnaire forms with questions on the ways of communication with care recipients (i.e., what to listen to, what to tell, and how to interact with care recipients) , 108 home care nurses and 55 home care givers were asked to evaluate their own and their counterparts’ communication.

Results：The home care nurses generally had a higher self-evaluation than home care givers In the evaluation of their counterparts, the home care nurses rated the communication of the home care givers higher compared to the self-evaluation done by the home care givers, whereas the home care givers rated the communication of the home care nurses low.

Conclusion：Based on the evaluation of counterparts, home care nurses perceive that home care givers actively communicated with care recipients. There is a discrepancy in mutual perception of the communication of their counterparts.