Improving the Pulmonary Care Skills of the Caregivers at Home Care Setting

Chen, Meng-Chun

Monday, 30 July 2012

Meng-Chun Chen, RN
College of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chia-yi, Taiwan, Putz City, Taiwan
Kuei-Min Chen, RN, PhD
College of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, College of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Learning Objective 1: Home care services provide continuity care for the clients at home.

Learning Objective 2: Improving proper pulmonary care skills of caregivers.

Purpose: Home care services provide continuity care for the clients at home. The most commonly seen clients of home care services are disabled and long-term, bedridden seniors. Long-term bedridden can cause respiratory secretion retention and lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is the most common reason for hospital re-admission of seniors and often causes severe sepsis and death. Proper pulmonary care skills of caregivers of those clients with pulmonary disorders would be essential to prevent respiratory secretion retention and pneumonia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pulmonary care knowledge and skills of caregivers who cared for those seniors with pulmonary disorders at home.

Methods: Using a quasi-experimental, single-group, pretest and posttest design, a convenient sample of 24 caregivers of seniors with pulmonary disorders from regional teaching hospital in Taiwan was recruited. The pulmonary care intervention program included: 1) establish the standard protocol of nursing education for home visits; 2) form the pulmonary care support group; 3) revise and develop the pulmonary care educational pamphlets; and 4) develop the pulmonary care checklist and establish the tracking mechanism for proper evaluation.

Results: The pulmonary care knowledge score of the caregivers significantly increased from 56.67±9.63 at pre-test to 64.79±10.37 at post-test (p < .001). The pulmonary care skill of the caregivers also significantly increased from 57.11±9.00 at pre-test to 65.44±11.25 at post-test (p < .002).

Conclusion: The pulmonary care intervention program significantly enhanced the accuracy and appropriateness of pulmonary care delivery by caregivers to those seniors with pulmonary disorders at home care setting. Establishing the standard protocol of nursing education and the tracking mechanism for proper evaluation are key factors to the goal of providing continuity and integrity care. This program further affirms the distinct contribution of nursing to improve the quality of home care.

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