Knowledge and Awareness of Nurses in Saudi Arabia Regarding Home Health

Abstract

This literature review examines the extent to which nurses in Saudi Arabia have sufficient knowledge and awareness of home health. The review shows that while some nurses have a high awareness and appreciation of home health services in the KSA, many nurses do not view it as a practical means of providing quality care. This is consistent with how nurses feel in other countries, such as the U.S. and the Netherlands, which is why many researchers suggest that more education be provided to help nurses both in the KSA and in other nations develop a better knowledge and awareness of how home health care can help the aging population.

Introduction

Home health has become more and more of a feature of quality care in hospitals around the world as health care providers seek to offer patients better access to care and more personalized and comfortable settings where health care can be received. Home health is an optimal solution for patients who cannot travel easily or who do not want to receive care in hospitals. It is especially helpful for elderly patients who have difficulty moving. As Almoajel (2016) points out, home health care (HHC) services aim to help individuals to improve their function and live with greater independence and to assist the patient to remain at home, avoiding hospitalization or admission to long-term care institutions (p. 106). Providing care home health care is especially important in Saudi Arabia as the elderly population is set to increase from 1.6 million in 2015 to be 10 million by the end of 2050 and people aged 80 or more is expected to reach 1.6 million by the same year (Almoajel, 2016, p. 106). For this reason, it is essential that nurses in Saudi Arabia have knowledge and awareness of the practice of home health. This literature will review the evidence of the extent to which nurses in the KSA have this knowledge and awareness and compare them with nurses in other parts of the world, including the U.S.A.

Literature Review

Almoajel, Al-Salem, Al-Ghunaim and Al-Amri (2016) note...

Compared to nurses in the U.S. and other parts of the world, nurses in Saudi Arabia are behind the curve when it comes to having an extensive knowledge of an appreciation for home health. Though home health is on the rise in Saudi Arabia, most nurses do not view it as a practical means of providing quality care. In the U.S. and other Western nations, home health is viewed favorably by many nurses (Vandenberg, Van Beijnum, Overdevest, Capezuti & Johnson, 2017); however, researchers also point out that as the elderly population grows in these parts of the world, there is a greater need for nurses to develop a better understanding of risks associated with home health care (Jones et al., 2017) and how to overcome obstacles associated with this type of practice to ensure that quality care is maintained at the highest level (Smith, 2016). These studies indicate that, as is the case among nurses in Saudi Arabia, nurses throughout the West including the U.S. need to devote more care and attention to…