Home health care is the fastest growing field for nurses and other health care professionals. In order to contain the skyrocketing costs of health care it is vital to educate patients in thier health status. They need to learn and take responsibility for thier own outcomes and status.
More than 50% of Americans are health care illiterate meaning they don’t know who to call, where to go and how to navigate the system. They don’t know the differnce between a short term prescription for say antibiotics and a long term medication such as for hypertension. Consequently, when they run out, they don’t know to order a refill much less how to do so.
I can’t tell you the number of patients I have encountered over my career who think many of their medications are vitamins, or just something the doctor said they should take for awhile. They have no idea what the medications are much less what they are for.
Preventing complications from chronic disease is a foreign language. It’s no wonder there are so many epidemics of chronic illness, and that we have such a litigeous society. If a ptient has no idea that he has an illness and the complications are XYZ, without appropriate education, complications become a complete surprise. Death is totally unexpected, and anger and frustration lead to seeking revenge.
Patient education is vital to successful patient care and prevention of chronic illness and complications. There is no better place to accomplish this than one-on-one patient care in their own environment.
Home health care is not an easy transition, and after 35+ years mentoring new hires I have compiled a guide for those new to home health. Exploring the Home Health Experience: A Guide to Transitioning Your Career Path is meant to help you make the transtion easily and successfully. It’s available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats.