Objective：The present study aimed to develop and investigate the reliability and validity of an index to measure the quality of cooperation between nurses and care workers supporting home-care patients requiring medical treatment.

Methods：A questionnaire survey regarding the state of implementation of 46 items relating to cooperation between nurses and care workers was conducted on visiting nurses and visiting care workers. Item analysis was performed and reliability and validity were investigated.

Results：Exploratory factor analysis of the responses from 201 individuals identified a 19-item, four-factor structure (cumulative contribution rate, 56.75%). The four factors comprised relationship building, collaboration implementation, risk management, and operation. Internal consistency was confirmed with Cronbach’s α reliability coefficient (overall, 0.912; subscales, 0.812–0.878).

Conclusion：The present index provides a scale to measure the cooperation for nurses and care workers supporting home-care patients requiring medical treatment by assessing the same items for both groups and can be applied to promote and fairly evaluate cooperation.

Objective：To survey and analyze judgments made by visiting nurses when they receive an emergency phone call, and to clarify the process of how such nursing judgments are made.

Methods：Study design: Qualitative descriptive research.

Study participants: This study included a total of fourteen certified nurse specialists and certified nurses with at least five years of experience as a visiting nurse.

Survey method: Nursing decisions that were made in scenario models were surveyed through semi-structured interviews.

Analysis method：Transcripts were separated by phrases, which were categorized based on similarities and differences and were systematized in chronological order.

Ethical considerations: This study was approved by the ethics committee of the affiliated university. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Results and Conclusion：A total of 35,985 phrases were extracted and aggregated into eight major categories: “Constantly perform risk management,” “Collect health information of the patient from the reported phone call,” “Caretaker’s reported information lacks objectivity or is insufficient,” “Enhance objectivity of the caretaker’s reported information and supplement insufficient information,” “Collect information from others who are not the caretakers,” “Perspective on information collection,” “Content of collected information,” and “Make life-threatening situations a priority and make judgments with consideration for safety first.” Characteristic findings were observed from the perspective that the nurses were “constantly performing risk management,” “complementing insufficient information that also lack objectivity,” and “making life-threatening situations a priority and making judgments considering safety first.”

PURPOSE：The purpose of this study was to clarify the difficulties experienced by terminally ill cancer patients and their families and effective nursing practice in transition to home-based palliative care with peace of mind.

MATERIALS AND METHODS：This qualitative study was conducted using the content analysis technique of Krippendorff. Data were collected through individual deep interviews of eight participants, including four terminally ill cancer patients who moved to home-based palliative care after being discharged from the hospital and four family members.

RESULTS：The terminally ill cancer patients and their family members experienced difficulties after moving to home-based palliative care with “The medical staff not wanting the patient to feel abandoned and/or be discharged from the hospital” and “Both patients and families being unable to think,” among other issues. The transition to home-based palliative care aided patients in several ways, such as by “Assuring an acceptance system” and “Having arrangements made by nurses based on the patient’s disease condition and their family situation.”

CONCLUSION：This study shows that the medical staff need to handle patients and their families with consideration in order that they do not feel abandoned even after being discharged from the hospital, and also develop a support system help the patients and their families adjust to the new reality of being terminally ill. If this can be accomplished, then both the patients and their families can smoothly adjust to home-based palliative care with a peaceful feeling.