ABSTRACT
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to clarify the awareness and difficulties of home care support in outpatient nursing at an advanced acute care hospital.Methods: An anonymous questionnaire survey of outpatient nurses at a university hospital was conducted using a detention method.Results: In total, 195 questionnaires were analyzed (effective response rate: 89.9%). The number of years of outpatient nursing experience was within 1 to 3 years for 40%, being the highest. Regarding the importance of outpatient care in supporting home care, approximately 97% of the subjects answered that they 'always think' or 'sometimes think' that it is important. On the other hand, approximately 50% of subjects answered that they 'always' or 'sometimes' perform home care support. Eight difficulties in outpatient home care support were identified: [insufficient manpower], [shortage of time], [difficulties in understanding which patients need home care support], [lack of knowledge], [difficulties in in-hospital and community collaboration], [support not keeping up with current medical change], [number of outpatients], and [time-consuming support].Conclusion: It is necessary to improve the individual skills of outpatient nurses in order to provide seamless medical care and systematically improve the outpatient nursing system, including streamlining work, and facilitating in-hospital and community collaboration.