A Survey of the Safety Management Requirements of Home Visiting Nurse : Preventing Third-party Interactions with Workers

Abstract

Purpose : This study was conducted to identify and analyse the hazardous situations and factors experienced by visiting nurses during work, and the importance of their safety management needs, in order to develop a manual for safety management of visiting nurses. Methods : Participant recruitment was conducted from August to September 2020, and 10 visiting nurses from three health centres in Gyeonggi-do participated in this study. The interviews were conducted as focus group interviews, with two groups of five participants per group, and two face-to-face interviews each. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results : Three themes and nine subthemes emerged from the findings: problematic behaviour of clients during home care, unsafe environment, and barriers to prevention. The subcategories of problematic behaviour in providing home care included sexual harassment, verbal abuse and threats, unreasonable demands, and constant complaints. The subcategories of safety threatening environments included threatening work environment and damage caused by pets. The following subcategories were identified as barriers to prevention: performance-based evaluations, lack of criteria for dismissal, and difficulty in obtaining criminal background checks. Conclusion : Based on these findings, grievance committees should be established in health centres, and work manuals should provide criteria for dismissal if the safety of the visiting nurse is in question. In addition, it is necessary to secure information about the client's history of violence.