title: Nurses' foot care activities in home health care.
abstract: This study described the basic foot care activities performed by nurses and factors associated with these in the home care of older people. Data were collected from nurses (n=322) working in nine public home care agencies in Finland using the Nurses' Foot Care Activities Questionnaire (NFAQ). Data were analyzed statistically using descriptive statistics and multivariate liner models. Although some of the basic foot care activities of nurses reported using were outdated, the majority of foot care activities were consistent with recommendations in foot care literature. Longer working experience, referring patients with foot problems to a podiatrist and physiotherapist, and patient education in wart and nail care were associated with a high score for adequate foot care activities. Continuing education should focus on updating basic foot care activities and increasing the use of evidence-based foot care methods. Also, geriatric nursing research should focus in intervention research to improve the use of evidence-based basic foot care activities.
authors.affiliation: Finnish Doctoral Programme in Nursing Science, Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Turku FI-20014, Finland. Electronic address: minna.stolt@utu.fi.
authors.forename: Minna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stolt
authors.forename: Riitta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Suhonen
authors.forename: Pauli
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Puukka
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Viitanen
authors.forename: Päivi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Voutilainen
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leino-Kilpi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005528:Foot; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009732:Nursing Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Foot; Foot care; Home care; Nurse nursing; Older people