Table 4 Examples of care situations during the study year involving patients receiving primary-care home nursing.

82-year-old woman who lives alone, has no home help, has help from family members. (Many visits in specialised care)

Main medical problems: Asthma, facial skin disease, polyposis of the nose, needs a hearing aid, cataract operation, urinary problems, fever, mammary problems. Functional problems: Reduced vision, reduced hearing. Primary-care home nursing for 5 months.

Primary health care during the study year: 159 visits by nurses, who helped to prepare inhalations and made medical assessments.

The family physician record shows 2 notes concerning visits and 2 notes without a visit. Diagnoses in family physician record: Fever, skin disease, pathological urinary sample, examination including mammography.

Medical care outside of primary health care: 18 visits (3 to audiology, 1 to ENT, 2 to dermatology, 8 to ophthalmology, 2 to surgery, 3 to pulmonary medicine). 14 of these visits were to doctors. One period of inpatient care: 2 days in the ENT clinic.

88-year-old woman who lives alone, has home help. (Three visits in specialised care)

Main medical problems: Heart failure, atrial fibrillation, depression, infections. Functional problems: Reduced vision, reduced hearing, reduced mobility and reduced cognitive function. Primary-care home nursing for one year.

Primary health care during the study year:52 home visits by nurses, who dispensed tablets and helped with general care, social rehabilitation, preparation before tests, blood and urinary sampling, measuring of blood pressure, and made medical assessments and did care planning.

The family physician record shows 3 notes concerning home visits, 3 concerning practice visits and 9 notes without a visit. Diagnoses in the family physician record: Depression, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, upper respiratory tract infection, pneumonia, cystitis.

Medical care outside primary health care:2 visits to ophthalmology, 1 visit to general internal medicine. One visits was to a doctor. 3 periods of inpatient care in geriatric clinic, 18 days.