Background:

The delivery of care to people who live at home and depend on others for care is a complex and multidimensional reality where there are often situations of unfinished care. Few studies analyze the reasons for this phenomenon.

Objective:

To explore nurses’ perspectives on the reasons for missed care or care that is not provided as frequently as expected to dependent people referred to home-based long-term care teams.

Methodology:

Qualitative study using the focus group technique.

Results:

Nurses conceptualize unfinished care as a phenomenon that starts with a problem - lack of resources/time - associated with organizational factors and the family’s conditions to assume the caregiver role, which leads to the decision to prioritize care resulting in missed or unfinished care. This process causes discomfort among nurses.

Conclusion:

There is a need for a home care model that fully meets the needs.

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