Gone are the days when patients were compelled to visit their doctors at their respective hospitals and clinics. With time, the demand, relevance, and access to home nursing services have increased. This has allowed millions of patients across the globe to receive quality healthcare services from the comfort of their homes.

The role of home nurses and caregivers in such services is undeniably important. In fact, it is safe to say that the nursing staff carries home nursing services on its shoulders. Not all doctors visit their patients at their homes and stay with them for several days. While the patients stay connected to their doctors virtually (thanks to modern healthcare software tools), the nurses at home look after their patients with vigilance.

Home nurses and caregivers form the backbone of home nursing services, helping their patients recover in the best way possible. In the case of long-term home nursing care, these professionals become akin to the patients’ family members.

Let us have a look at a few major roles and responsibilities of these home nurses and caregivers:

Helping With The Activities Of Daily Living

Activities of daily living (ADLs) include tasks like dressing, grooming, bathing, toileting, and more. If a patient needs help in these areas, home nurses and caregivers assist their patients in the same. This is most common in the case of elderly patients. Having dedicated nurses at home gives patients comprehensive support in almost all activities of daily living.

Monitoring Vitals

Home nurses and caregivers are also responsible for tracking their patients’ vitals, such as blood pressure, blood oxygen, heart rate, and more. Thanks to the advancements in healthcare software, home nurses can take these vitals and share the results with doctors virtually in real time. Healthcare professionals offering doctor on call services take such readings to assess their patients’ health.

Medication Management

A home care nurse must know every medicine a patient is required to take until they recover. They help their patients establish a suitable schedule and track it every day. Home nurses and caregivers also remind their patients to take the right medicines at the right time. Elderly patients tend to forget their medicines, jeopardizing their health. These healthcare professionals prevent such circumstances from arising with seamless medication management.

Providing Mobility Assistance

Such care is provided to patients recovering from musculoskeletal conditions and elderly patients experiencing difficulty walking. Along with dedicated physiotherapists, patients and their families seek help from these professionals to improve their mobility. If needed, they also help their patients with assistive devices for better results.

Preparing And Tracking Meals

Home nurses and caregivers are also responsible for preparing meals for their patients if needed. As recommended by their doctors, these professionals ensure that their patients receive the nutrients their bodies need to recover faster.

Along with preparing meals for their patients, home care nurses also track the meals given to them. Just like medicines, they remind their patients to have their meals on time.

Offering Emotional Support

A home care nurse’s responsibilities are not limited to helping their patients recover from physical illnesses. Prolonged illnesses often take a toll on a patient’s mental health. Complications like chronic stress, crippling anxiety, and depression may occur if a patient’s mental health is not looked after.

Along with consultations from mental health professionals, patients often rely on home nurses and caregivers to look after them for emotional support. Especially in the case of long-term nursing care, a patient tends to spend most of their time with these caregivers. Spending time with them, sharing their pain, and being honest about their conditions help patients feel better.

Educating The Patient Regarding Their Condition

Along with the doctors and nurses involved, it is important for patients to know the conditions they are suffering from. It is a home care nurse’s duty to keep their patients informed about their condition, medication, risks, symptoms, treatment, and everything related to the complication. It is important to keep a patient in the loop and update them about the status of their recovery. Home nurses and caregivers are expected to maintain the utmost transparency while communicating with their patients.

Light Housekeeping

If needed, home nurses and caregivers also take up the responsibility of light housekeeping. Depending on the requirements, this may involve getting the laundry done, doing the dishes, tidying up the house/room, and other related tasks.

Such home nursing services are often provided to elderly patients who are unable to perform the daily chores and look after their houses.

Coordinating Medical Care

It is the responsibility of home care nurses and caregivers to coordinate the medical care offered to their patients. This involves being a medium of communication between their patients, the doctors, and the patients’ family members. Most doctors offering doctor-on-call services communicate with their patients through the home care nurses. The caregivers keep the doctors updated about their patients’ health. If a patient’s family members do not live with them, home care nurses also keep them informed about their health and recovery.

Handling Medical Emergencies

Home nurses and caregivers are expected to be vigilant enough to tackle medical emergencies. In the absence of doctors, these professionals should make quick and precise decisions to deal with the medical emergency at hand. They are also responsible for providing immediate medical care to their patients until they reach the nearest hospital and qualified doctors take charge.

The Final Word

These were some of the most important roles and responsibilities of home nurses and caregivers. These healthcare professionals are doctors’ first-in-command when it comes to looking after a patient’s health. If you or your loved ones need comprehensive home nursing services, reach out to your family doctor or search for qualified general physicians in your town. Most general physicians offer home nursing care along with doctor on call services. Equipped with the latest healthcare software solutions, these services allow patients to get diagnosed, treated and recovered without leaving their homes.