Exploring the Unplanned and Unpredictable Factors Affecting Home Care Nurse Case Manager Workload

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the unplanned and unpredictable factors that affect home care nurse case manager workload. Two papers comprise this thesis. The first paper is an integrative literature review that focused on developing a more clear understanding of how the unplanned and unpredictable factors can affect the work and workload of the home care nurse case manager. I found that there is need for further research to uncover the complexity and causation of these factors from the home care nurse case manager perspective. The second paper is a secondary data analysis that utilized an interpretive descriptive approach. In this thesis, I provide a more clear understanding of the unplanned and unpredictable factors that affect home care nurse case manager workload. However, further research is needed to build on this work to investigate the effects of these unplanned and unpredictable factors in order to accurately measure workload, and determine case manager capacity and ultimately the effect of case manager work and workload on client outcomes. This work could inform intervention studies designed to improve case manager work and workload.