A survey of home nursing services in Taiwan

This study investigated the current situation of home nursing services in T aiwan. A total of 93 home nursing agencies (response rate of 75%) responded to a mail survey. The majority of the agencies (63%) had been established within the last 3 years before the survey, were hospital-based (90%), and h ad less than 60 (89.3%) average total number of visits per month per nurse. Most of the home care nurses had taken home care nursing training courses and had at least 2 years of clinical experience. Half of the agencies provi ded care for patients on a respirator, and 28% provided in-home hospice car e. Almost a third of the agencies performed pearly in the areas of supply m anagement, supervision of home visits, and quality monitoring and improveme nt mechanisms, several suggestions for the development of home nursing serv ices in Taiwan are made.