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Scrubs Work Well in Home Care
There has always been a debate in home health care about uniforms vs. wearing street clothes for safety measures as well as ease of care. Enforcing a professional look or dress code has been one of the of the biggest arguments against street clothes. Remember, you represent your company when you go out to see your patients. You also represent yourself as a professional. Look in the mirror and be honest--- would you trust this person to be your nurse?
Another problem is that some of the homes you visit are less than ideal. How many times have you experienced the need to go straight home and shower for an hour, scouring every inch of your body before you can stop itching or imagining things crawling all over you?!! We've all been there-- or will have been there before your home care career is over. You want to burn your clothes and even scrub out your mouth and nose. Who knows what you have contaminated your car with.
Scrubs offer a great option. They are professional and yet commonplace enough not to draw undue attention to you in the community as you get to your patient's homes. They can be laundered in strong detergents and hot water, and unlike your nice personal attire, not be ruined.
New Home Health Care Legislation Needs YOUR Support!
Home Health Care Planning Improvement companion bills have been introduced in both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate to bring Medicare into the 21st century and allow APRNs (NPs, CNS, and Nurse Midwives) as well a Physician Assistants (PAs) to certify patients for home health care and to sign the Plan of Care as well as supplemental orders.
HR2267 was introduced in the House by Representatives Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) and Greg Walden (R-OR). The Senate bill (S227) was introduced by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Kent Conrad (D-ND).
Please take a moment to write to your Senators and Representatives asking them to support these bills. The American Nurses Association has made it simple to email or send snail mail to your Congressional reps with a canned email message that you can edit if you you prefer and send directly from the ANA site.
Read more about the bills at Nurse.com.
Join us on FACEBOOK
We have a new page set up on Facebook. Join us and make new friends in the home health industry. Share your experiences and get answers to your burning questions. This link replaces our mailing list on Yahoo.
Thanks,
Kathy
Check Out This Nurses Bag
This bag looks like a winner for home health nurses. It has an optional insert as well as an optional kit for organizing lab tubes and phlebotomy equipment. Check them out and if you purchase, please tell them you found the info on our site.
Face to Face MD visits for Home Health and Hospice
Reminder.... beginning January 1, 2011, all patients being recertified or admitted to home health care have to have face-to-face visits from a physician or NP to certify that the patient meets criteria.
In hospice, patients being recertified from the 3rd certification (benefit) period onward need to be seen by a hospice physician or NP to attest to the fact that the patient continues to meet criteria each cert period.
Here are some links to information about these changes which were mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This link takes you to CMS to read the Federal Register about the changes.
Health Care is Going Home
A new commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine points out the wave of the future being home health care. Didn't we already know this? Oh well, maybe more docs will catch on more now....
Another VNA Celebrates 100 Years of Service!
In Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts, residents have had VNA services for 100 years and still going strong. Read more about this great agency and some of their patients as they celebrate a huge milestone in home health care.
As the population ages and medicine and technology advances, we all know that home health care and hospice is going to BOOM. With heartwarming stories like this one, we have much to aspire to in providing long term quality care to all of our patients. Many THANKS to all who help home health and hospice the BEST place to be cared for!!!
Help Celebrate Nurses Week.... Call Your Legislators
HAPPY NURSES WEEK!!!!!
Long overdue is the right for Advance Practice nurses to order home health care for their patients. Currently there is legislation in the House (HR4993) and Senate (S2814) to allow NPs, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Nurse Midwifes, and other health professionals to sign orders for care for their patients.
In honor of Nurses Week, take time to do something to promote your profession by calling or emailing your Congressmen and asking them to co-sponsor and support these bills.
FREE Seminar on OASIS C
The Home Care Information Network (HCIN) and MED PASS have partnered with coding expert Lisa Selman-Holman to offer a FREE 2-Part 90-minute seminar on OASIS C. In just over 60 days this new OASIS tool begins. Are you ready? Check out some of the most important changes coming with this FREE seminar.
Educational Materials Available
I spent a large portion of the summer working on some products for SupportForNurses.com. The new e-Toolkit, may be of interest to staff educators. It covers many of the mandates from Medicare regarding DO NOT PAY lists and reimbursement issues. While these may not directly affect home health, they do indirectly as a continuum of care. This can be especially true of patients with deubs. Where did they develop? Accurate documentation and communication is essential to reimbursement and will affect your staff. How useful is the Transfer OASIS to the hospital staff? And why should you follow through on faxing it to them?
The toolkit is designed so that it can be presented in modules and therefore those modules that aren't as relevant can be skipped over or just the highlights pointed out. Check it out. There are also some great e-booklets that may also be of use to your nurses. The links can be found on TheNursingSIteBlog.
A New Blog... AboutAgingParents.com
I just launched my newest blog AboutAgingParents.com which is for and about caregivers caring for their aging relatives or friends. Please check it out and give me your feedback, ideas and share your own experiences with our readers.
FREE Caregiving Telesummit
My presentation on How Home Health Care Can Assist is on
Saturday Aug. 8 at Noon.
Here's more information:
More Stats... Home Health Care is a Growing Business
Just in case you didn't know this, or need some statistics.... home health care is growing. Here's an article from the Milwaukee Business Journal.
AARP Supports Long Term Support Legislation
AARP is asking the public to join them in supporting long term support and services at home legislation as part of the health care reform process. This legislation would help to reduce costs of long term care in nursing facilities and help the elderly and disabled in their own homes....someting we in home health care work to do everyday!!!
Read more...
Happy National Nurses Day and Nurses Week May 6-12
©2009 TheNursingSite.com All Rights Reserved...... order your own Print Your Own Kit and get .pdf files by email today!
Nursing Shortage in Home Health Care
From Nursezone.com.... studies show that home health is suffering the biggest shortage of nurses right now (duh!) and that by 2016 home health nursing will surpass hospital nursing with the greatest growth in employment for nurses. Well is this news to anyone in home health???!!! We know that we have the BEST employment opportunities for nurses who can deal with the autonomy and the challenges.
Home Health Care Nurse Promotion Act of 2009
H.R. 1928 was introduced into the House of Representatives by Rep. Steve Kagen (D-WI) and Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) and is supported by by Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-IA), Mary Bono-Mack (R-CA) John Yarmuth (D-KY) and Madeleine Bordallo (Guam). If passed, the bill offers home health agencies who serve a disproportionate number of under insured and uninsured, the opportunity to recruit nurses with expertise in areas such as geriatric care and also offer new nurses student loan forgiveness for committing to work in community-based home health care for 2-3 years. This will help home health agencies improve the quality of care for all patients they serve.
In an article on Medical News Today, the VNAA was quoted in supporting and applauding this effort.
Please take time to write your Representative today to support this bill.
Interesting NY Times Article
Here's something interesting to ponder for the future in home health care....
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/health/03health.html?_r=1
What's your take on this??? Join our Yahoo group (mailing list) and post your comment on the site.
Home Care Webcast Starts Today
Home Care Information Network is offering a FREE Webcast, The Home Health Brave New World, beginning on March 23, 2009. The 60 minute online webcast will be available for 30 days beginning March 23, 2009 at 8:00 Am EST. This broadcast covers the critical changes expected to be implemented in 2010 including OASIS C, expanded Home Care Compare Indicators, ICD-10-CM and Pay for Performance. Register NOW.