Nursing Home-Based Care
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Role of a Community Health Nurse in Assisting Families in the Care of the Elderly in their Homes
A community health nurse assists the elderly in maintaining an independent life in the community as long as possible. To do this, the nurses emphasize preventive Geriatric Medicine, emotional and physical support (Donelan et al., 2019). Since the elderly have various individual needs, they ensure that the requirements are attended to elders’ satisfaction. The roles of nurses in nursing homes can be divided into fundamental roles and advanced responsibilities. In primary roles, nurses ensure that the elderly have clean bedding, acceptable personal hygiene levels, and proper nutrition. On the other hand, the advanced functions include administering medication, taking blood samples, and monitoring the elderlys’ well-being. Also, in cases where the elderly have a terminating disease, the nurses offer psychological support and proper communication, increasing the quality of life by reducing stress and anxiety.
Barriers Related to the Initiation of Home Care Services in Communities
Several barriers affect home-based care in communities. First, the elderly preferences may be an issue. Some frail adults may opt to receive hospitalized care other than home-based care (Chandrashekar, 2019). Again, if the elderly have negative experiences with nurses, they may have negative attitudes toward nursing home care. Secondly, most nursing homes lack registered or licensed nurses in operation since most nursing schools fail to offer home-based training for the elderly. Thirdly, elderly safety may also be compromised by certain health risks. Hazards such as sanitation, infection control, lack of continuous monitoring, and addressing variant needs may be challenging to manage, especially with few registered nurses.
Differences in an Urban area Versus a Rural Area in-Home Care Services
A comparison in rural areas’ nursing home services versus urban areas reveals that most rural home-based care lack enough registered and licensed nurses. Also, rural nursing homes lack the appropriate infrastructure to care for frail adults. Such supporting infrastructure includes life-sustaining and assistive durable medical equipment hence challenging management of elderlies’ acute care needs.
References
Chandrashekar, P., Moodley, S., & Jain, S. H. (2019). 5 Obstacles to Home-Based Health Care, and How to Overcome Them. Harvard Business Review Home.
https://hbr.org/2019/10/5-obstacles-to-home-based-health-care-and-how-to-overcome-them
Donelan, K., Chang, Y., Berrett-Abebe, J., Spetz, J., Auerbach, D. I., Norman, L., & Buerhaus, P. I. (2019). Care management for older adults: The roles of nurses, social workers, and physicians. Health Affairs, 38(6), 941-949. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00030
https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00030
Question
Look through several major newspapers for articles that discuss care for the elderly in the community or care for those at the end stage of a life-threatening illness. Then answer the following questions:
A) What is the role of a community health nurse in assisting families in the care of the elderly in their homes?
B) What are some of the barriers related to the initiation of home care services in communities?
C) How does living in an urban area versus a rural area affect home care services?