National Nurses Week
For National Nurses Week (May 6-12), we’re honoring the many Residential Home Health nurses who brighten our office halls and patient homes. While nurses account for an abundance of Residential’s field staff, delivering superior care 365 days of the year, more still are working behind the scenes to ensure the best patient support, education, and health.
When a patient’s physician diagnoses a disease or starts a course of treatment, often times nurses act as shepherds, guiding each patient toward optimized health and healing. Their approach involves interpreting instructions, identifying goals, administering routine care, spotting potential warning signs, and advocating in the patient’s best interest. Read on to celebrate the various roles that Residential Home Health nurses play across the spectrum of a patient’s home health journey, and the immeasurable patient successes that they help to make possible.
Care Transition and Initiation
For some of our patients, a Residential Home Health nurse gets involved even before active home care begins. To help avoid breakdowns in care between a high-maintenance medical setting like a hospital and the comparative independence of home, our Transitional Nurse Liaisons have a keen eye for continuity and widespread communication to keep things running smoothly.
Residential also has a group of nurses whose focus is starting care for patients. These clinicians conduct evaluations, gather health history and other information, review instructions and medication regimens, and coordinate schedules. Their specialized, inclusive work ensures that a patient’s first Residential Home Health visit is not only a comfortable experience, but also a preview of the attentive and individualized care to follow.
Health and Medication Management
A nurse’s duties will vary from patient to patient, and from day to day, throughout the plan of care. Some patients may require wound care and dressing; others could need advice about their medication regimen. But no matter what the substance of the visit, nurses will be assessing progress and watching for new or changing symptoms. For patients aging in place, a nurse could be the first line of defense against a possible complication, or just the person to initiate a critical medication adjustment.
Education and Empowerment
But nurses don’t stop at observing — they also offer valuable education and priceless support. In cases of chronic conditions, such as heart disease or diabetes, nurses have the vast training and knowledge base (not to mention the communication skills and compassion) to teach the principles of disease management and enable patients to do it themselves.
Because we understand the value of nursing support, we ensure that Residential Home Health patients can access a nurse at any time, for any health concern. Whether the cause is a routine medical question or a more pressing need for immediate assistance, a Residential nurse is always a phone call away, ready to provide skilled support. Truly, nurses make up a tightly coordinated web that helps make Residential Home Health such a pinnacle of exceptional patient care.
To determine whether you or your loved one might benefit from in-home nursing or other home care services from Residential Home Health, call (888)930-WELL (9355) to discuss your specific situation with a Home Care Specialist today, or click here to take our 15-question, 60-second Home Care Assessment.
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