gms | German Medical Science

Background and Purpose: Demographic studies refer to an incrementally aging population in Germany. This fact is positively correlating with an increasing need for home-care-services. Analysis of the age structure in home care nursing point out, this group is also growing older and is experiencing a progressive burden in deliverance of care. This leads to an increasing number of staff ill and detraction of care professionals. Purpose of this project is to examine specifics about this situation to find evidence for renewing working processes in a salutogenic way.

Methods: Qualitative and quantitative research were conducted to examine the staff of three home-care-services. Part of the process was to attend nurses in everyday work by focused ethnography. This data was evaluated by content analysis towards Mayring and will be presented in the current report.

Results: Home care nursing causes special necessities and high flexibility: the car as part of the workplace, mobile phones that serve as instructors and media for communication in different ways, and the wide range of different environments where care is delivered in. Focused ethnography showed especially psychological burden like distress, arising from permanent availability and dependencies on technological infrastructure. The observations also showed resources that help home care nurses to cope the challenging business, which include continuity in patients care and strategies for driving time.

Conclusions: Multiple specifics about the situation of home care nurses could be identified. Besides burden resources could be extracted. Both can facilitate renewing working processes in home-care-services.