The purpose of this study is to identify and compare any differences in visiting nurses’ work-family conflict between full-time workers and part-time workers. Work family conflict (WFC) refers to a form of inter-role conflict in which the role pressure from the work domain is incompatible with that from the family domain. The subjects were visiting nurses who work at 56 home-visit nursing stations in A prefecture. Each respondent was to answer a self-administered questionnaire on WFC and other information on work and home. 236 questionnaires with valid answers were analyzed. The results showed that, visiting nurses who work full-time exerienced more conflict, in that “due to work, I could not do anything about family life” and “due to family stress, I could not work as I wanted”, than visiting nurses who work part-time. In conclusion, visiting nurses’ work-family conflict differs depending on their type of employment.

This study aimed to examine the relationship between the act of getting up from the floor and physical function in the early and late elderly living in the community. The time needed to get up, lower- and upperlimb and trunk muscle strength, flexibility, standing balance, and walking ability were measured, involving 82 early and 79 late elderly. Each physical function was compared between the early and late elderly, and its relationship with the time needed to get up was analyzed. The results showed that each physical function decreased in the late compared with the early elderly. On multiple regression analysis, a tendency for those with higher trunk muscle strength and standing balance scores to get up from the floor more quickly was shown in the early elderly, suggesting the necessity of comprehensively improving the dynamic balance, as well as the strength and coordination of related lower-limb muscles, rather than increasing individual physical functions, to promote the ability of the late elderly to get up from the floor quickly.

Objective: This study aimed at accurately estimating the home blood pressures (BP) in caregivers of dementia -patients who can walk by themselves.

Methods and Results: We administered self-report questionnaires and assessed home BP. We examined 21 family caregivers (caregivers) (median age, 62.0 years) of dementia patients and 21 non-caregivers as controls (median age, 64.0 years). Stress scores of caregivers were significantly higher than those of noncaregivers (p ＜0.001). With respect to the BP measured before bedtime and after awakening in subjects without anamnesis of hypertension, the percentage of caregivers with BP greater than the criteria from the Japanese Society of Hypertension was significantly higher than that of the non-caregivers (p = 0.035, p = 0.035).

Conclusion: In subjects without anamnesis of hypertension, the percentage of caregivers with suspected sustained or masked hypertension was higher than that of the non-caregivers. We suggest that accurate assessment and control of home BP are important for caregivers of dementia -patients who can walk by themselves.

The process leading to continuous use of home-based rehabilitation (HBR) for over one year was investigated using qualitative research methods. We solicited the collaboration of three HBR providers in Tokyo and interviewed nine elderly participants that were over 65 years with no progressive disease or dementia, using HBR continuously for over one year. The qualitative data were analyzed using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach. “We obtained the category 《attitudes about rehabilitation》 before participants started using HBR that was composed of two bipolar concepts ([hope of full recovery] and [giving up on recovery]). Each concept was followed by 《reasons for deciding to use HBR》 which was composed of two concepts ＜self-decision in response to own needs＞, which resulted from [hope for full recovery] and ＜decision to use by a significant other＞, which stemmed from [giving up on recovery]. Regardless of the 《reasons for the decision to use HBR》, the participants obtained 《hope of continuing use based on accomplishments》. This category was composed of ＜high level of accomplishment through HBR＞ and ＜low satisfaction with recovery＞.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the caregivers’ including thoughts, feelings, and actions taken in response to the care, speech and behavior of visiting nurses in home terminal care.

This study used a qualitative descriptive design incorporating semi-structured interviews with 17 family caregivers. It revealed 53 sub-categories in 17 categories, as well as 4 characteristic core categories, as changes in family caregiver’s thoughts.

Specifically, the 4 core categories were: Easing of anxiety toward home care; increasing sense of unity as comrades who have overcome the obstacle together; awareness by family caregivers of a hesitant acceptance of new life; and making steps toward personal recovery and the start of a new life. Visits to bereaved families were found to be important opportunities to assist family caregivers in taking steps toward a new life. Providing precise nursing skills with comfort and building trust relationship between the nurse and the family caregiver are very important for visiting nurses.

Purpose : To clarify visiting nurse work contents and time spent (particularly the time apart from for staying at clients’ home) according to client condition.

Method : At nineteen visiting nurse stations, chosen by opportunistic sampling, all employees were requested to record all work contents and the minutes spent on each for those patients chosen as survey subjects. Duties were divided into transit, time at client home (paid and unpaid), and other jobs (preparation/ cleanup/obtaining goods, contact with other organizations, telephone contact with family, conferences, document preparation, other) and analyzed by subject condition.

Results : 81 patients were selected as subjects for analysis. Time at client home was significantly longer for patients with intractable or terminal illnesses, and contact with other organizations was significantly longer for patients with intractable diseases. Conferences were longest for patients with terminal diseases, followed by those with intractable diseases and psychiatric disorders. The percentage of time spent on indirect duties was highest for psychiatric patients.

Discussion : In the case of psychiatric patients, it is necessary to construct a system whereby the work contents not centered on staying at clients’ home can also be made profitable. In order for a nursing station handling patients in various conditions to operate efficiently, cooperation with other organizations was considered to be essential.