219 NORDISK SYGEPLEJEFORSKNING · NR 3 – 2011 · VOL. 1 · SIDE 219–234 · ISSN 1892-2678 © UNIVERSITETSFORLAGET · WWW.IDUNN.NO/NSF Older home-living patients’ perceptions of received home nursing and family care Bjørg Dale PhD RN · associate professor at the University of Agder · Centre for Caring Research – Southern Norway, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences · bjorg.dale@uia.no Hans Inge Sævareid MSc RN · associate professor at the University of Agder · Centre for Caring Research – Southern Norway, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences · hans.i.savareid@uia.no Marit Kirkevold EdD RN · professor at the University of Oslo · Institute of Nursing and Health Science, Faculty of Medicine · marit.kirkevold@medisin.uio.no Olle Söderhamn PhD RNT · professor at the University of Agder · Centre for Caring Research – Southern Norway, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences · olle.soderhamn@uia.no Older Home-Living Patients’ Perceptions of Received Home Nursing and Family Care Studies focusing on older patients’ perceptions of the nursing care, and their experiences related to receiving family care, are sparse. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe how older home nursing patients perceived the care they received from both the home nurses and their family. Structured interviews were used to collect data among 242 persons aged 75+ years who received home nurs- ing, and 193 persons receiving family care. Perceptions about the amount and the quality of nursing care were investigated. Depend- ency, relationship and safety were focused in the questions about the family care. Descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U test, the chi-square test, Spearman’s rho and stepwise multiple regression were used in the analyses. The level of satisfaction with the home nursing was high. Nevertheless, areas of improvement were identified: a lack of continuity in the care, the nurses’ shortage of time, and a lack of information and communication. The majority of the study group was comfortable with receiving family care, and did not perceive their care providers as worn out. More than half of the group was not confident that their family could extend their help if needed. Key words: caregivers, next of kin, older people, patient satisfaction