<Original>Home care nursing observational study on nursing intervention and diagnosis : Client characteristics and target and category of intervention

The purpose of this home care nursing study was to describe for a set of clients, their characteristics, nursing interventions, and nursing diagnoses. Nursing intervention categories include (1) Treatment and procedures, (2) Health teaching, guidance, and counseling, (3) Surveillance. Targets are defined as objects of nursing interventions or nursing activities. From a government list of home care nursing agencies throughout Japan, 759 out of 2,048 agencies were chosen for this study. Questionnaires were sent to the home care nurses at the agencies. The questionnaire focused on organization and client characteristics, categories and targets of nursing interventions provided to clients, and their nursing diagnoses. The response rate was 26.6%, 525 questionnaires being returned. About 82% of the clients were over 65-years old, 93% were semi- or completely bed-ridden, and 55% had dementia. The most frequently provided nursing category was "Treatment and procedures". The most frequently provided target care was the taking of vital signs which was followed by care for activities of daily living (ADL) deficits. Infrequently provided were rehabilitation and exercise. Dominant nursing diagnoses were physiological problems, followed by psycho-social problems, then environmental problems