The mobility issues and physical challenges facing many seniors make moving into a skilled nursing facility seem like a more pragmatic living situation. Instead, many seniors are choosing to age in place and stay in their own homes for as long as possible. Home nurses make this feasible and the best option for a vast number of elderly patients.
Here are some of the inherent benefits of home nurse visits.
Freedom and Autonomy
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Perhaps the most compelling advantage of home nurses is the freedom to stay in one’s own house, without the need to go to a nursing facility, and still receive medical care.
It is estimated that more than 13.8 million people (28% of the population) live alone. With seniors, the concern is the isolation and associated health risks.
Home nurse services provide the perfect middle-ground, allowing seniors to live autonomously while also getting their medical needs met without leaving home.
Extra Support
Anyone could use a little extra support from time to time. Home nurses may be just the added resource that a senior needs to live independently. This extra pair of eyes looking out for the senior may come as a great comfort to family and loved ones, too.
One of the many things that home nurses do is to watch over medications and ensure the patient is taking them as prescribed. The nurse may also be able to identify potential problems, such as the risk of overdose or increasing dependency.
Home nurses are also trained to identify health risks and hazards that could cause an accident and subsequent injury. For example, the nurse may be able to offer suggestions regarding fall risk prevention around the home environment, saving the senior from a debilitating injury from which they might never recover.
Individual Medical Attention from Home Nurses
Some families think that skilled nursing facilities are the only option for those patients that need around-the-clock supervision or care—this is simply not the case. Home nursing is available for 24/7 care. Alternatively, home nurses can be the perfect solution for a senior who only needs occasional assistance or monitoring.
For the duration of their visit, home nursing staff provide seniors with one-on-one care, not sharing a nurse with several others in a communal living situation.
Socialization and Mood
As a person ages, the impact of loneliness on mental health can be severe.
More than a third of adults report feeling lonely, and around one-quarter of seniors older than 65 are socially isolated from others. This is alarming as socialization and human contact are integral to overall health and wellbeing.
So, why this dramatic shift in social interactions among older individuals? Many times it is due to things like hearing loss or a chronic medical condition that impede engaging with other people.
A visiting nurse is another social contact that can improve the senior’s quality of life.
Do you know someone that could benefit from home nurse services? Consider these advantages and determine whether home care service provision makes sense for you or your loved one.
Regular visits from a health care professional can have positive impacts on mental health, too, and bring additional peace of mind to family and friends that may worry about the senior’s wellbeing.
Guest Author Stephen Bitsoli, Editor at Sunshine Behavioral Health, is long-time author and writer for newspapers and magazines on human interest articles and feature stories.
