Home health care: delineation of research priorities and formation of a national network group.

The purposes of this national study were (a) to determine priority research questions in home health care nursing and (b) to develop a home health research network group. Collaborative brainstorming was used initially by an interdisciplinary research team to generate a list of research questions. The major content areas covered in the questionnaire were questions relating to home health care as a delivery system, patient classification, quality assurance, nursing diagnosis, and nursing professionalism. A survey of 450 practicing home health care nurses was completed. The questions were rated by the respondents on a scale of high, medium, or low research priority. The response rate was 52%, with home health nurses responding from 30 states. The results clearly indicated the top 10 research priorities for home health care nursing research. The formation of the home health care research network groups are also discussed.

Home health care: reliability and validity testing of a patient-classification instrument.

The purposes of this methodologic, descriptive, correlation study were to assess the reliability and validity of the Easley-Storfjell (ES) patient-classification instrument for home care, and determine to what extent it was useful in a large, hospital-based home health care setting. A model for home health care developed by the investigator was used. Interrater reliability and concurrent validity were established by four nurse-raters using a random sample. Nonparametric bivariate correlational analysis demonstrated that the ES instrument was both reliable and valid at a significant level. In addition, there was agreement between the overall ES category rating and rater frequency of home visits. Intrarater reliability for each of the four nurse-raters on a random sample was at a significant level. The results of this study have important implications for home health care agencies providing care to chronically ill patients.

The Albrecht nursing model for home health care: implications for research, practice, and education.

Home health care has become increasingly popular with consumers. Despite this movement of care away from the hospital, the literature does not contain a comprehensive nursing model of home health care. The need for a model to guide nursing research and ultimately, nursing practice and education is apparent. Four health service delivery models are available to be applied to home health care nursing; however, analysis of all four demonstrates a need for one specific to home care nursing.