Home Health Orders for Educating CG

Specialties Home Health

Published

I'm looking for guidance on what needs a specific order for home health setting. Do you need an order for each item you educate a care giver on? For example, a client has an order for catheter to be changed. The care giver was instructed how to do so. There is a note stating the doctor was made aware of cg changing catheter, but the order does not specify that the nurse should teach the cg how to change it. Does the nurse need to have an order to educate or to allow the care if it is care that a care giver is providing or is documenting in a note sufficient?

Teaching a caregiver to perform a procedure such as a catheter or dressing change requires a physician's order.

It's ideal to have captured all of the patient's education needs on the POC or in supplemental orders but you don't necessarily have to have an order to teach something precautionary in addition to your POC ie pressure ulcer prevention if it becomes appropriate, but you should always check your agency's policy.

My thought on this... if the caregiver is being trained to change a catheter, which is a skilled nursing procedure, why would you need home health?

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