home health definition

Cmyst · Feb 28, 2005

I am thinking of getting involved in home health nursing. Can my home health colleagues give me some idea as to what would be a true definition of home health nursing and whether they see their role as being carried out according to the definition.
Thanking you,
Merleyvonne.

For the legal definition, I bet you could check out some of the sticky threads at the top of the forum.

I am just getting back to home health nursing after 5 years doing other things. It wasn't my role as a nurse that caused me to leave. I always felt that this was the most holistic form of patient care and the most personally fulfilling form of nursing for me.

Of course there are drawbacks. Nothing in this world is perfect. The drawbacks that I recall were huge amounts of paperwork, dangerous neighborhoods, and enforced driving time in an urban area of ever-worsening traffic congestion. If you work with the public in *any* position, you will have to deal with rude or angry or hopelessly inept or uncaring people. There are some of those in home health, just like in the hospital, or on the other end of the phone line, or across the counter.

Businesses exist to make money, and health care is a business. While we are more shielded from the financial realities as floor nurses, home health agency staff often emphasize these "bottom line" concerns, and that can be disconcerting for nurses who think of themselves as caregivers and not managers. This is really more a problem of perception and image, because floor nurses are very much impacted by cold business decisions as well -- those decisions just aren't discussed with them very often, and they aren't made aware of billing and coding guidelines in the same way that home health nurses are, and other professionals decide who and when to discharge.

When I was in school, aside from the basic science and technological aspects of nursing, they emphasized assessing the patient as a whole. Physically, sure, but also psycologically and socially and spiritually. Teaching was emphasized. The patient as part of a family, a community, a culture. Home health nursing meets the criteria of that kind of care much more consistently than hospital nursing.

hoolahan, ASN, RN · Mar 1, 2005

"The purpose of home health care is to provide the support, treatment, and information that caregivers and patients need to successfully manage their healthcare needs at home. The home health nurse's role is that of facilitator of home independence through patient education, patient advocacy, and case management." (Robyn Rice)

From Robin Rice's book Home Health Nursing Practice.

magic · Mar 8, 2005

For the legal definition, I bet you could check out some of the sticky threads at the top of the forum.
I am just getting back to home health nursing after 5 years doing other things. It wasn't my role as a nurse that caused me to leave. I always felt that this was the most holistic form of patient care and the most personally fulfilling form of nursing for me.
Of course there are drawbacks. Nothing in this world is perfect. The drawbacks that I recall were huge amounts of paperwork, dangerous neighborhoods, and enforced driving time in an urban area of ever-worsening traffic congestion. If you work with the public in *any* position, you will have to deal with rude or angry or hopelessly inept or uncaring people. There are some of those in home health, just like in the hospital, or on the other end of the phone line, or across the counter.
Businesses exist to make money, and health care is a business. While we are more shielded from the financial realities as floor nurses, home health agency staff often emphasize these "bottom line" concerns, and that can be disconcerting for nurses who think of themselves as caregivers and not managers. This is really more a problem of perception and image, because floor nurses are very much impacted by cold business decisions as well -- those decisions just aren't discussed with them very often, and they aren't made aware of billing and coding guidelines in the same way that home health nurses are, and other professionals decide who and when to discharge.
When I was in school, aside from the basic science and technological aspects of nursing, they emphasized assessing the patient as a whole. Physically, sure, but also psycologically and socially and spiritually. Teaching was emphasized. The patient as part of a family, a community, a culture. Home health nursing meets the criteria of that kind of care much more consistently than hospital nursing.

agree!