Though every member of the various home health care agencies in the Arcadia area has a useful role, nurses play an especially welcome part, especially the ones who can provide 24-hour care.

The team at Accredited Home Care has a variety of nurses available to help clients with any needs, from basic care to advanced nursing procedures such as administration of IV drug therapy or advanced wound care.

These licensed, screened and highly experienced nurses also happily work well with a family’s caregivers.

If a client or their family requests it, nurses are also available to be caregivers themselves, whether on a short-term basis such as a respite care situation or a longer-term basis where they, or their agency, are hired to provide partial or around-the-clock care. This type of care also can be split between several nurses through the day or week.

Nurses also work well with a variety of therapists who are asked to help clients with certain health conditions, including physical therapy, occupational therapy or speech therapy. Massage therapists also are available, which can help relax clients as well as soothe their muscles.

Overall, the nursing profession also has the important role of providing ‘eyes and ears’ for family members and also for a client’s medical provider in the event that his or her mental or physical health changes – because of their medical training, they are more likely to notice early if something is different or observe what a family member may be wondering about.

Many hats for nurses

Beyond a nurse’s required clinical duties that directly benefit clients, such as various medical procedures like measuring blood pressure, many nurses also are in this line of work to help people any way they can.

This includes providing comfort by simply visiting with a client and any friends or family. This social aspect is particularly important to some clients, who may not get much company in their current condition or situation, or even be able to go out and visit others.

So rather than simply coming and doing a quick check-up, evaluation, and assessment and then leaving, nurses may sometimes stay and have a longer visit. Clients and their families may enjoy these visits and start to look forward to them, which could give them things to enjoy in an otherwise uninteresting week.

Even though many home health nurses or nurses who are caregivers may have several clients that they need to visit in a typical day, they all likely enjoy each interaction.

Show thanks

This time of year is the perfect opportunity to let nurses in your life know they’re appreciated.

May 6 through 12 is National Nurses Week, a nationwide opportunity to salute the role of nurses in our communities, encourage others to join the profession, and for those who are already nurses, to pat themselves and others on the back. It also can be an occasion to make nurses aware of different levels of knowledge and certifications that are available, in case someone wants to gain more skills for a specialty title or additional credentials.

The week is celebrated by a variety of nursing organizations, including the American Nurses Association, the American Nurses Foundation, the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the American Holistic Nurses Association and the American Nephrology Nursing Association.

The celebration typically ends on May 12, which is the birthday of Florence Nightingale, a British nurse considered the founder of modern professional nursing. During England’s Crimean War in the 1850s, she championed several procedures that are still in use in the profession.

Many nurses began celebrating this occasion themselves as early as 1954, which was the 100th anniversary of Nightingale’s trip to the battlefield. But President Reagan made it a national celebration in the early 1980s.

The National Nurses Week theme for 2018 is “Nurses Inspire Innovate Influence.”

Attitude of gratitude

Many nurses don’t just help clients feel better physically but encourage them to feel better mentally and emotionally.
This is, in part, by encouraging them to find ways to feel grateful. Although it may be difficult at first for someone suffering a difficult health condition to look for the bright side, more and more nurses are actively looking for ways to get people to find something good in their world.

According to the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, trying to focus on what makes you happy and grateful may be able to reduce rates of depression or suicidal thoughts, improve relationships and generally improve one’s well-being.
Current research shows that gratitude doesn’t just provide brief mental benefits but could actually improve overall health. Patients of all ages and national origins showed fewer health symptoms, everything from less upset stomachs and headaches to clearer skin and less congestion. People who focus more on finding good things in the world also seem to sleep better.

Home health can help

Loved ones in the Arcadia area eager to know more about the varied roles nurses can play, in conjunction with or separate from a caregiver or other specialists can contact Accredited Home Care for more information.