INTRODUCTION: Consumerism is prevailing value in Korean society, while there has been little concern about it especially in Korean nursing society even though there has been an increasing emphasis on patients' participation in decisions concerning health care and nursing as an ideal in the literature. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: The study with survey method was carried out to examine the nature of collaboration between patient and nurse in nursing practice in Korea through a replication of the studies carried out in US, Norway, Finland, an Japan (Kim et al., 1993) and to revise and test Kim's explanatory model of collaborative decision making in nursing practice from the Korean perspectives. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS: Both patients and nurses as groups exhibited pro-consumerist attitudes regarding collaboration in health care, while there were significant differences in attitudes and perceptions of patients and nurses. These findings are similar to those of Kim et al.' s study carried out in US, Norway, Finland, and Japan. Nurses as a group compared to patients held stronger health-care consumerist attitudes and beliefs in general. However, the Korean nurses seem to hold a weaker attitude for challenging professional authority. And the Korean patients compared to the nurses seem to hold stronger belief in the patient's right to information, as found in US, Finland, and Japan. Regarding the nurse patient collaborative attitude in decision making, it revealed that one third or more of the patients as a group believe in the patients' right to be informed of decisions that nurses make for their patients, while another one third or more of them believe in the patients' right for advisory role and joint role in nursing care decision making. This result for the patients is very similar as those found in US, Norway, Finland, and Japan. However, the attitude for the nurses held stronger agreement with patients' to be informed of decision making that nurses make than the patients' right for advisory and joint role. The nurses have weaker belief in patients' self determination on their care than the patients. The results of path analyses confirmed the explanatory models that tested two explanatory models examining the factors contributing to the differences in the attitudes of patients and nurses. The path model for nurses identified nurses' lengths of experience as the important factor explaining attitudes regarding challenging professional authority and the patient's rights for information. The path model for patients identified the level of education as the most significant factor that explains patients' attitudes regarding the rejection of general authority, challenging professional authority, and the patient's right for participation in decision making.

The propose of this study is to give a theoretical basis for better home health service by looking at the subjective structure the collaboration between the home health nurse and doctor and at how collaboration can be improved. There are at least three types of recognition that can help the collaboration. The first type is to put more weight on the relationship between doctors and home health care nurses. This means that doctors and home health care nurses should make an effort to improve, their collaboration. The second type is to put more weight on the reward for doctors' participation. Reward will help collaboration. The third type is to put more weight on organization support. Organization support will bring about trust between doctors and home health care nurses The following conclusion were reached: 1) Trust should exist between doctors and home health care nurses. 2)Doctors should maintain an equal relationship with home health care nurses and accept them as professionals. 3) Appropriate reward should be given to doctors for their participation. 4)Home health care nurses should reinforce their skills through education, training, and professionalization. 5) Home health care nurses should cooperate with doctors by building a system that centers on patients. 6) Collaboration between doctors and home health care nurses is important because it is useful to recognize patients and their families in a broader light. 7) Doctors and home health care nurses need to be more concerned about patients. 8)More active support of hospital administrators and systems is needed to enhance collaboration between doctors and home health care nurses. 9) The present legal system for collaboration between doctors and home health care nurses can be a factor. The nine nursing strategies above will help doctors and home health care nurses build more positive relations and get closer to their patient, more effective home healthcare will get closer to people who want quality medical service.