Stress perceptions of nurses serving in home healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic:A qualitative research

Objective:To investigate the stress perceptions of nurses serving in home healthcare services during COVID-19.Methods:This study was qualitative research with a phenomenological design.Data were collected and recorded through in-depth interviews with 6 nurses working in MuşState Hospital,Home Healthcare Services Unit using a form consisting of 12 questions on an online platform between May 2021 and July 2021.The audio recordings were transcribed by the researcher and content analysis was performed by creating codes,categories,and themes.Results:The interviews yielded 10 categories and 59 sub-codes.These codes were addressed under the theme of"COVID-19 pandemic".Under this main theme,nurses expressed the problems they experienced in issues such as stress,support mechanisms,and family and social problems during COVID-19.They mentioned that they experienced high stress in this process,as well as social isolation and negative thoughts of society about them and that they could not spare time for themselves and their families.Conclusions:Nurses working in home healthcare services frequently express negativities such as high stress,isolation from society,and increased workload.Therefore,actions should be taken to raise awareness of society on these issues,increase the number of personnel,conduct more research,and share the results with the public.

The home healthcare nursing services provided to the elderly patients: a systematic review

Background:Home healthcare(HHC)services entail quality and transitional care offered to patients.Doctors recommend HHC to the elderly patients to manage conditions and improve outcomes outside inpatient setting.The systematic review aimed to assess the home health care nurse services to elderly patients.The question of this study is“what are the home nursing care services provided to the elderly patient.Methods:A systematic review methodology was adopted.A search was conducted on PubMed,MEDLINE,and ScienceDirect using keywords such as“home healthcare”,“nurse services”,“home nurses”,“elderly patients”.The search generated 1829 articles,but 16 were selected for qualitative synthesis for meeting the eligibility criteria.Joana Briggs Institute’s critical appraisal tools helped in the assessment of the primary studies.A data extraction matrix generated themes,while a narrative synthesis presented the studies.Results:The review found administration of HHC nursing services in different settings.The studies confirmed varied nature of HHC,types of HHC services,transitional care,challenges,or barriers of offering HHC,relationships,and decision-making process in offering care to the patients and family.The studies presented HHC as a multifaceted component with diverse impact on the patients and family.The analysis revealed that HHC nurses services served elderly persons as the main target group.HHC faces different challenges,barriers,or obstacles such as work,role conflict,organization,elderly patients,and decision-making.Conclusion and Future Research:The assessment of the HHC nursing services provided to the elderly patients reveals different facets of the healthcare process that reduce readmissions and hospital costs.Further studies could explore the provision of care to other target groups such as middle-aged patients to understand the impact of the services.