Description
Home nursing is one of the professional health care services offered by nurses in the convenience of needed ones’ (patients, disabled, elderly) homes under the direction of a physician. Home nursing services include assessment of individuals; supporting them with preventive, rehabilitative, and therapeutic care; wound nursing; disease management; handling of required medical equipment; creating disease awareness by educating the patients, etc. It requires skilled nurses to handle individuals all alone in their homes with utmost care.
Home nursing helps the different categories of need ones with different services to fulfill their medical requirements. Home nurses coordinate with the individuals’ family members and doctors to treat patients with up-to-date and current practice methods. Most home nursing services equate with the services of hospital nursing practices with minor deviations based on the facilities available at homes.
History of Home Nursing
Home nursing is defined as “the delivery of specialized nursing care services in the home health care setting” by Keating and Kelman in their book called Home Health Care Nursing: Concepts and Practice published in 1988. The origin of home nursing was in the mid-1800s when W. Rathbone, with the help of Florence Nightingale, founded a school to train nurses visiting the sick peoples’ homes in England. Later, the concept of home nursing was adapted by British colonies and other countries.
In the late 1800s, the concept of home nursing, during that time it was a part of community health nursing, appeared in the United States. In 1893, Lillian Wald, founder of Henry Street Settlement, started offering health care to the poor and immigrants in their homes of her neighborhood.
Methodology
Home nursing services are delivered differently in various parts of the globe and the term “Home Nursing” has different meanings too in different parts of the world. In the same way, the methodologies differ from one country to another based on the population and healthcare system.
Developed countries have specific regulations, guidelines, and models for home nursing to address the specific needs of their population and health problems.
Challenges With the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, disabilities, and the elderly population, the need for home nursing is also on the rise in developed and developing countries. The most frequent challenges faced by healthcare professionals practicing home nursing are
• Learn to be autonomous most of the time. They cannot rely on others for support or guidance during home visits.
• Different home conditions pose challenges during services.
• Cleanliness and unsanitary conditions. Benefits
• Elderly and people with disabilities can get professional health care in the comfort of their homes.
• More days of hospital stays will get reduced and eventually reduces the risk of nosocomial infections.
• Patients with serious health conditions can have positive psychological effects by staying at home and getting health care instead of being hospitalized for a longer period.
• Economically weaker sections of people can reduce their hospital staying expenses by hiring a home nursing person.
• Personalized care of home nursing reduces the burden on family members
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