Establishing good practices in continuing care: a descriptive study of community nursing services for people with HIV infection.

This paper presents findings from a 2-year study of community nursing services for people affected by HIV infection in six health authorities in England. The research, commissioned by the Department of Health, England, aimed to identify the main bridges and barriers to effective home nursing care, focusing on discharge co-ordination, district nursing and multi-agency collaboration. Using a triangulated, case study approach, the main methods of data collection included non-participant observation, case note analysis, semi-structured staff interviews, a postal questionnaire of district nurses and a series of focus groups with service users. Study sites included three cities and surrounding districts in the north west, north and south east of England. Findings suggest there is considerable room for improvement in discharge planning and that good practice is not the preserve of specialist units. District nurses are shown to be willing providers of the majority of home nursing care to this client group, but there is a need for more focused training, greater use of care co-ordinators and more emotional and managerial support.