The Effects of Applying a Home Care Protocol on the Nursing Care of Stroke Patients

Kang, Hyun Sook; Kim, Jeong Hwa; Kwon, Hei Jeoung; Sok, So Hyun

Abstract

Since patients who have suffered from strokes have chronic health problems, the development of a protocol for home care nursing is required. Therefore, this study was done to test the effects of such a protocol on stroke patients. This study was conducted by using a single group pre-post design. The subjects for the study were 13 home care nurses and 30 home care patients who had a stroke. Data collection was done from October 1997 to February 1998. The collected data was analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test and paired t-test and the results were as follows : 1. The first hypothesis that "working satisfaction of home nurses would be higher after using the home care protocol" was supported. 2. The second hypothesis that "patients" satisfaction would be higher after using the home care protocol" was rejected. 3. The third hypothesis that "the level of ADL of patients would be higher after using the home care protocol" was supported. In conclusion, by using a home care protocol, the satisfaction of nurses' work and the ADL of patients increased, and the patients' satisfaction also increased without statistical significance. The above results confirm that the application of a home care protocol is very effective. Thus, this protocol can be helpful in the quality care of stroke patients. Therefore, developing and organizing protocols, according to health problem, can be useful for beginner nurses who interact with high risk patients.