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Table 1 Home care by district nurses in Sweden

From: Family physicians' experiences when collaborating with district nurses in home care-based medical treatment. A grounded theory study

Type of responsibility

Type of profession

Responsible authority

Type of organisation

Medical treatment 1

Family physician2

County Council

Health centre

Home care by3 district nurses

District nurses4

County Council

or Municipalities5

Health centre

Home care org.

Home help service

Home help staff

Municipalities

Home care org.

  1. Home care by district nurses is part of primary care but the organisation and which authority is responsible for home care by DNs differ depending on what the local County Council or the Municipalities have agreed on. This will influence the working conditions of the family physician and the district nurse.
  2. 1 Including home visits if necessary
  3. 2 Until recently, and at the time of the study, physicians in primary care were required to be specialised in family medicine. In reality, many doctors are substitutes without this speciality
  4. 3 Differs from hospital at home in that it is not team based. The patient's various care providers handle their part of the treatment as a part of outpatient care. Sometimes, as in the case of the district nurses, it is performed in the home of the patient.
  5. 4 An increasing number of the nurses in home care are not specialised district nurses.
  6. 5 In more than half of Sweden the municipalities are now responsible for home care by district nurses