Your nurse is the center of your home health team. He or she will coordinate your plan of care with your physician, along with other members of your home health team to help meet your needs and get you back on the road to recovery.
On the first visit, you can expect the nurse to take notes and do a general assessment, ask about your medical history, assess your overall health and determine your ability to take manage your medications and treatments.
One important duty of a home health nurse is to provide medication reconciliation, which means comparing your medication orders to all of the medications that you have been taking to avoid omissions, duplications, dosing errors or potentially dangerous drug interactions.
Your nurse will also do a home safety evaluation of your living environment.
Other duties of the home health nurse may include:
- Teaching regarding medications, disease process, diagnosis, treatment/wound care & diet
- Monitoring vital signs
- Administering IV medications
- Giving injections
- Providing wound care
- Pain management
Please remember your nurse is a great resource you can count on to answer any questions you may have. If for some reason your nurse does not know the answers to your questions, she can communicate with your physician to get the answers for you. Your nurse is here to help you prevent and manage any complications. Talking openly and honestly with your nurse can help prevent costly trips to the hospital because you’ll know what to expect and what warning signs to look for.
