Ways to make cooperation between hospital nurse and home visiting nurse in treating a final stage cancer patient at home

Due to a payment system based on Comprehensive Medical Evaluation has been adopted, both a shorter hospitalization and the use of home nursing care have been increasing. A good cooperation between hospital and home visiting nurses is desired in order to transfer continued nursing. Regarding a home nursing care service for the most terminal cancer patients, we conducted a survey of 459 home visiting nurses with twelve questions in five categories: (1) Before transferring to home care, (2) Right after the transfer to home care, (3) Patient in a stable period, (4) Time of near death and (5) Other (Requests to hospital nurses). The following issues became clearer in terms of how hospital and home visiting nurses should be cooperating with the handling of last stage terminal cancer patients: (1) A home visiting nurse should have a coordinating role with a hospital nurse when the patient is discharged from the hospital. (2) A participation of home visiting nurses on the coordination guidance at the time of a patient discharge is influenced by a manpower of the nursing station. (3) Even though home visiting nurses found a discrepancy between the hospital information and what patients and their families were getting from the hospital, home visiting nurses have learned through the job to clarify what patient and family needs were, and they responded accordingly. (4) A coordination between hospital and home visiting nurses was needed quite often when the patient's time has come to die at home.