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“We Tie Up the Loose Ends”: Homecare Nursing in a Changing Health Care Landscape

Abstract

During the last decades, the work of homecare nurses has been affected by several changes, including an aging population, the decentralization of health care, nursing recruitment crises and the scarcity of public resources. Few scholars have analyzed how these changes have impacted homecare nursing. In this article, we describe and discuss aspects of homecare nurses’ work, with specific focus on nurses “organising work.” We outline three phenomena that are increasingly occurring: (a) homecare nurses are frequently involved in negotiating care level and, consequently, what kind of care the patient will receive; (b) homecare nurses’ clinical practice has become increasingly advanced; and (c) and homecare nurses play an important role in coordinating care among interdependent actors. The article draws on material from participant observation and interviews with homecare nurses in two Norwegian studies. Changes in work practice increase the demand for nurses to be competent and have excellent organizational and collaborative skills.
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Category

Academic article

Language

English

Author(s)

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Digital / Health Research
  • University of Oslo
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Year

2018

Published in

Global Qualitative Nursing Research

Volume

5

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository