Is it okay to treat a family member?

[cwinlv]

My daughter, a 25 yr type I diabetic who is in CHF, recently had her Pacemaker/ICD moved to a new location. She has since developed an infection in the site and now has a PICC. She has been discharged to home after 4 days in the hospital and will be on IV Vanco TID for 6 weeks. My dilemma: I want to make sure her PICC dressing changes are done correctly and that her vanco is hung correctly. I prefer to avoid the use of a home health nurse because I am capable of taking care of her myself. Is it ethical to treat my own daughter? Any input would be appreciated!

[CHATSDALE]

probably so...we have discharged patients to home with catherter instructions, dressing changes, etc..

[TazziRN, RN]

In this case I would say no.....there is a med involved. There is a reason why medical personnel are discouraged from caring for their family members. Dressing changes are one thing, meds are another. If you allowed home health to come in in a supervisory position, sure.

[Katnip, RN]

When my mother was sick, my sister and I took care of her, including meds and that was before I was a nurse. The home health nurse came once a week to check up on things. Of course that was a long time ago and times have changed.

[Sabby_NC]

my brother in law asked me to be his hospice nurse. my clinical nurse director did not have a problem with me doing this apart from worrying about how i would cope.

we looked after mike in our own home after making adjustments with moving our bedroom upstairs so hospital bed oxygen etc could be placed in our room.

it was hard but what a joy to look after him. i learnt so much and would not change a bit. the tears, the exhaustion etc was worth having him with us and kept in a loving peaceful environment.

mike died 3 weeks ago.

personally i do not see a problem looking after someone from the family when they are at home. you know what to do and the correct way to do picc line dressings etc.

who better to look after your daughter than yourself. you have the knowledge etc in dressing changes and vanc delivery/ precautions.

i do pray your daughter gets well soon.

hugs

[bill4745, RN]

I see no problem with it. You are more than competent enough to administer an antibiotic through a PICC.

[CritterLover, BSN, RN]

i don't see how that would be a problem. in fact, it is probably what you are going to be asked to do. home health isn't about the "doing" anymore. it is about teaching the family to do the task.

at the infusion center where i work (outpatient) that happens all the time, even when the relative isn't a nurse.

if a patient needs abx two or three times a day, there is no way a nurse is coming out to administer each dose.

it is even highly doubtful that an agency would send a nurse out every day for a qday med (such as vanc q24h).

i put the picc in, give the first dose, and teach the caregiver (or the patient) how to administer the med, how to flush, and the dosing schedule. they usually come back once a week for the dressing change, but if a friend or relative is a nurse and wants to do the dressing change, then we will send out a dressing change kit with the meds.

it works very well, and we rarely have a problem

[widi96]

You are not being paid by a business to do this care, so I don't see any problem with it. You are an individual who has the knowledge and power to help a family member. Go for it.

If it were a patient in the hospital and that setting, I could certainly see it being a problem, but not in a home care setting.

[TazziRN, RN]

Wait, guys....she said she doesn't want home health out at all. All the cases that have been cited had home health looking in periodically. She's talking about doing it all herself, in the home health nurse role. Not good.

[SharonH, RN]

In your case, there is no reason why it would be unethical. If you are willing and able, then I think it's a great idea for you to take care of your own daughter, certainly you have the highest motivation to provide the best care to her.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

what does your daughter want,,,,i am sensing somethng of a control issue here.....perhaps an outsde person would be better

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I guess I don't see what the fuss is all about. Nowadays (as another poster pointed out), home health doesn't come and DO stuff anyway, they teach the pt or family member to do everything anyway and then they sign off.

I had a blind patient (IDDM) who had a leg ulcer who was admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics and wound care. When she was discharged, home health came once to the house with supplies and showed (??) her how to do the dressing change and IV meds and that was it! That was all her insurance would allow.

Care of the patient both in the hospital and in home is falling more and more to the family. This isn't unethical at all, its the reality of the situation.