by Andie Anderson

Created on: May 07, 2008   Last Updated: September 16, 2008

Nursing has been around for a very long time. Home Health is as old as history itself. Usually the women had this role in the family unit to take care of the young, the old, the sick, the infirm and in today's society we still have a need for it.

As a home health nurse there are respect for the person you are seeing as well as respect of the homeowner, to inform of the time of the visit, what the skill is required, whether it be wound care, assessment, patient teaching. You have to know a great deal of psychology in home health nursing and be sensitive to subtle changes in the family dynamics as well.

You have to observe for isolation, possible abuse that can come in a variety of ways, exploitation via financial ways, spiritually, and emotionally. Sometimes there is no physical abuse, sometimes there is no abuse as all, sometimes the patient is abusing the caregiver, it is a fine line you have to determine and to use your gut instincts and report to your supervisor anything that may be of concern. There is so much stress these days in people's lives, children are forced to care for their parents at an early age, and sometimes they don't have the resources to handle this difficult decision, whether to let their parent be independent, or if they need help.

I found that being a Licensed Practical Nurse has its rewards and challenges in the home. I have learned a great deal about people and about myself in caring for them. The role of Nurses in Home Health Care today is constantly changing and it is and always will be a necessity of today's world. It can be gut-wrenching, and difficult, it is hard to be objective when some of the problems may be similar to our our problems. You try to be personal but you don't want to give too much information because patients can sometimes worry about their nurse's problems more than their own which can be detrimental to their health and improvement.

I have always wanted to be a home health nurse, I have met the challenges and now with new laws that change how often the LPN can be in the home for care, and due to costs involved, sometimes I am not always needed as I once was. I have been a per diem nurse for several years now and now due to the changing economy I have to redirect my skills to be either an independent contractor for private duty care only which can have its problems but I will rise up for this challenge and meet it head on. I am a home health nurse and even when I retire, I will still think like a nurse and you can never change that. We think of other's feelings and needs sometimes above our own.

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