NSCH 111 Study Unit 7 Home visits in the community

Flashcards about home visits in the community

Home Visit

A formal interaction between a nurse and a client in the client's home intended to deliver nursing care related to identified health needs.

Purpose of Home Visits

Health promotion and illness prevention, provision of community-based long-term care, skilled nursing services, caring for terminally ill, case finding and referral

Home Visit Contexts in South Africa

Community Health Workers (CHW) as part of Re-engineering of Primary Health Care (PHC), professional nurses in private practice or nursing agencies.

Cross-Cultural Considerations During Home Visits

Respect the norms of the client's culture regarding greeting, sitting, and obtaining information to avoid unintentional offense.

Types of Clients Benefitting from Home Visits

Clients with physical, emotional, or psychosocial needs, family role changes, or health education needs.

Advantages of Home Visits

Convenience, access to care, obtaining information, relationship building, cost-effectiveness, and positive outcomes.

Universal Precautions During Home Visits

Barrier precautions, handwashing, safe handling of sharp instruments, use of protective equipment like masks and gowns.

Personal Safety Considerations During Home Visits

Appearance, transportation, and awareness of the situation, including wearing identification, securing valuables, and ensuring safe surroundings.

Challenges of Home Visits

Diversity of clients, maintaining balance in interactions, obtaining permission, building rapport, ambiguity, avoiding client abandonment, and program attrition.

Assisting and devaluing

The nurse must form a collaborative relationship with the client, where the input of both is valued.

Dependence and independence

The goal of home visits is to empower the client and family to be independent.

Health restoration and health promotion services

CHN nurses often need to provide more illness-related health restoration care, for example wound care, because the medical aids pay for that. Although health promotion is actually the focus of community health nursing.

Task orientation and meeting client needs

Often CHN have their own ideas regarding what is important and only focus on completing the tasks they feel are important. They often do not pay attention to the unique needs of the client and family.