Research and Study on Actual Situation of Visiting Nursing Outside of the Insurance Benefits

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to clarify the actual situation and characteristics of visiting nursing agencies providing visiting nursing outside of the insurance benefits.Methods: A self-administered questionnaire survey was distributed by mail to 145 visiting nursing agencies in five municipal districts working to participate in multidisciplinary collaboration situation regarding the actual situation they were providing nursing services outside of the insurance benefits as well as the characteristics of their visiting nursing agency. The visiting nursing agencies were then divided into two groups according to whether they practiced visiting nursing outside of the insurance benefits and compared.Results: Responses were received from 58 of the 145 visiting nursing agencies, among which 20 practiced visiting nursing of the insurance benefits. The reason they were providing visiting nursing outside of the insurance benefits was because of the following aspects: the users require professional nursing care, the families wish to fulfill their roles. These 20 agencies had high numbers of users and staff members, performed a significantly higher frequency of home visits, and had set up a payment system outside of the insurance benefits for visiting nursing. No significant differences were seen between groups regarding participation in multidisciplinary collaboration.Conclusions: Large visiting nursing agencies understood the needs of users and families rearranged their schedules to accommodate visiting nursing outside of the insurance benefits.