Home Care Nursing – Meaning and What to Expect

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Home Care Nursing

A wide range of healthcare services is included in home nursing services. These services can be easily availed at home and the best part is that they are far less expensive than the services which are offered in a hospital or nursing home.

Nursing care at home offers services which can be personalised based on our needs and preferences as opposed to that offered in a hospital. The former is also more compassionate and becomes an integral aspect of the patient’s family. The services are provided by nurses who registered along with occupational therapists and physiotherapists to name a few. This rules out the need to worry about the quality of the services so offered.

Functions

The primary goal of nursing care at home is to help patients recover from an illness or injury. Some of the home nursing services include –

Vaccination

Covers vaccinations at home and helps patients protect themselves from infectious disease. Some of the vaccinations provided include Typhoid, Hepatitis, H1N1, Pneumonia, and more by nurses at home.

Urinary Catheterisation Care

The nurses are trained for providing critical care and as such are trained in urinary catheterisation too. This includes catheter insertion, removal, and bladder wash – all at the comfort of your home.

Post-Surgical Care

Following discharge from a hospital, post-surgical care at home is the most essential. This includes pain management, fluid management, and respiratory management. Professional care at home after being discharged from a medical centre ensures patients recover quickly and in the comfort of their homes.

Oxygen Administration

There are several instances in which a patient can require oxygen to be administered immediately. These are mostly acute and chronic conditions such as breathlessness, trauma, shock, pulmonary disease, haemorrhage, and more. In such cases, the presence of a nurse can be very helpful who can do the needful instantly.

Injection

There are many situations in which a patient requires injections on a daily basis. Having a nurse at home can rule out the need to travel for long hours to a hospital for getting an injection or an IV infusion. A nurse can in such cases do the same job right at your home.

Wound Dressing

All wounds do not heal at the same rate. There are different kinds of wounds including infection wounds, surgical wounds, and pressure sores and so the wound care varies depending on the condition. A nurse can provide the right care and help the patient recover faster than usual.

Expectations from Home Care Nursing

Whether a patient requires home care nursing or not and the frequency of visits can be recommended by a doctor. The nurses sought should be registered and trained in medical support and rehabilitative care.

Some of the basic expectation from a nurse include –

  • Checking various parameters such as breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature
  • Educating the patient about self-care
  • Ensuring that the patient is following prescriptions and treatment
  • Enquiring about whether the patient is experiencing any pain or not
  • Keeping tabs on the safety of the patient and the feasibility of the medical devices used, and
  • Regularly coordinating with the primary physician to update the course of healthcare

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