Home health care helps patients be more comfortable

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March 22, 2006

By Cass Rains The Enid News and Eagle Wed Mar 22, 2006, 11:41 AM CST

Just two weeks out of the hospital and Viola VanMeter already feels well enough to extend cheered greetings to her home health nurse.

“This had been good for me,” she says with her arm around LPN Deana Broekhuizen. “I have a really good nurse.”

VanMeter’s situation is a typical one, where the aid of a home health nurse can speed recovery and make the patient feel more comfortable during their recovery.

VanMeter is the first to agree.

“”It’s a help,” she said, “because when you can’t get out and have to depend on somebody it’s such an inconvenience.”

Home health nurses do more than offer a hand around they house. They help educate their patients about their ailments and the medicines they’ve been prescribed, said Integris Bass Home Health Services Director Dr. Sunna Hoover.

“Our goal is to keep people safe at home, longer,” Hoover said. “We teach them to care for themselves again.”

Registered nurse Pati Pierson has been in nursing since 1962, spending the last 26 years with Home Health Services.

“I like the fact you get to spend the time you need with the patients,” Pierson said. “You get to know them better. You become their friend. You get to know their families.”

Working for hospitals, doctors’ offices, the county health department and even a stint as a school nurse, Pierson said being a home health nurse has been the most rewarding job in nursing she’s had.

Originally, Pierson had applied for a nursing position at a hospital, but as time passed and she didn’t hear back, she applied with Home Health Services and was hired within a matter of days.

“I fell into it,” Pierson said of home health nursing, “and have loved it ever since. I was so glad to get the job.”

Home health services nurses see an average of six patients per day, said clinical supervisor Gretchen Cinnamon.

“Sixty-five percent of our nurses are certified in gerontological nursing,” she said.

“Home health requires the skills of a nurse to check vital signs, assess signs and symptoms of their ailment and to educate the patient on their health care needs,” Cinnamon said.

Home Health Services also offers several types of therapy such as physical, speech and occupational. Only certain patients can qualify for home care.

“We probably have people call us every day asking us what we do,” Cinnamon said.

Clients must require nursing care or rehabilitation therapy, have a physician order and must also be homebound.

The majority of home health services patients are elderly, Pierson said.

“Probably 95 percent of our patients are elderly,” she said. “We offer a service for people that are homebound.”

Pierson said most her patients feel more comfortable when they are at home, and being in their “comfort zone” makes for a speedier recovery.

“You get better faster,” Pierson said of recovering at home.

Hospital stays can be taxing upon certain patients, Pierson said. With new medications and a new setting, the situation can be confusing for some patients.

“Sometimes, we’re the only people the patients see,” Pierson said.

Which explains how some patients can become fond of their nurses.

VanMeter said she wouldn’t give up her nurse for anything.

“You could be sick and she’d make you feel better just sitting with you.”

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