Awareness, working intention and willingness for home care among Macau nurses

Abstract

Background Home care is one of the essential parts in elderly long-term care. Lack of nursing manpower in home care are obvious in Macau like other countries. This study aims to investigate the awareness and willingness of Macau nurses to work in home care, along with related influencing factors. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire among 266 clinical nurses in various healthcare facilities. The questionnaire covered demographic data, attitudes towards filial responsibility, awareness of elderly home care, and overall attitudes towards home care. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analysis were used for analysis. Results Most of the nurses recognized the demand for elderly home care and demonstrated a general understanding of home care characteristics. However, 43.2% (N = 102) of nurses had difficulty distinguishing the differences between hospital care and home care. Furthermore, a majority (N = 152, 64.4%) of nurses reported insufficient knowledge about the social resources available for elderly home care. In the binary regression analysis, factors significantly associated with higher working intention of home care included an interest in elderly home care (P < 0.01) and awareness of home-based nursing (P < 0.01), Conversely, nurses with a stronger sense of filial responsibility exhibited a significantly lower intention to work in home care (P < 0.05). Conclusion This study recommends expanding home care services with hospitals as affiliated institutions to provide diversified work model for nurses. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of incorporating home care education in nursing curriculum, providing more clinical opportunities to home care, and offering home care training courses to enhance nurses' awareness and interest in this field. Additionally, efforts should be made to improve the compensation and benefits structures for nurses, aiming to reduce the disparities between those working in private and public healthcare institutions.