Home Care Nursing |
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A Home care permits its nurses independence, and offers feelings of fulfillment that challenge other healthcare careers over time. It offers job flexibility and relationship building because home care nurses get to spend more time with clients, and can see their clients' health outcomes. Home care nurses feel valued and make a difference.
Q Is there a home care nursing shortage in New Hampshire?
A The entire healthcare industry faces a challenging nursing shortage in New Hampshire and nationally where the average age of nurses is 47 and 42.5 years, respectively. Several factors contribute to imminent shortages. Over the next four years, New Hampshire is expected to produce 50 percent fewer nursing students than the rest of the country. Forty percent of the current national nursing force will have retired over the next 13 years. By 2020, the state's population of people 65 and older will double and stretch the limits of the healthcare industry overall. Plus, at the same time the reality of the pending nursing shortage is climaxing, federal and private insurers are relying on less-costly home care services to reduce hospital stays. Unless addressed immediately, these nursing shortage realities are likely to have a detrimental affect on healthcare in the Granite State.
Q Are home care nurses professionally challenged in the home care setting?
A Generally, registered nurses are very satisfied with the complexity of their caseloads. As a matter of fact, many registered nurses suggest they are more challenged because they often have to think on their feet and respond quickly to clinical and interpersonal circumstances not usually found in other healthcare settings. They tend to experience more fulfilling and rewarding patient relationships, and often work more closely with physicians. The home care nurse also functions as a member of an interdisciplinary team, and is frequently viewed as the patient's "care manager."
Q Why is home care important to families?
A Home care helps to lift the burden of worry from family members by helping them to plan and participate as an equal partner in the care of their loved one. It also offers clients feelings of self-reliance and enables them to stay in their homes comforted by familiar surroundings.
Q What role does technology play in home care?
A Advances in portable healthcare technology have allowed many chronically ill individuals to receive treatment in their homes. Home care professionals typically educate individuals and their families about equipment use, and monitor the effectiveness of treatment programs.