More Funding For Patients at Home

Nowadays patients are staying less and less in the hospitals. They are discharged from hospitals with IV bags and machines. Patients can even receive chemotherapy and dialysis right in the comfort of their living rooms. Other health care services like Rehab, PT, OT, Speech Therapy and dietary assessment can be done at the patients’ homes. Even patients with the worst post-op infected wounds are now discharged early from the hospitals. Assessment and treatment of their wounds are possible because of the nurses that come to their homes. This present healthcare situation is saving the government a lot of money as the cost of hospitalization is decreasing due to shorter patients' stay in the hospital. It is only right therefore that the government should increase the funding for home care in order to serve better the increasing number of patients who choose to receive services right at their homes.

Providing nursing anytime...anywhere

Community nurses are expected to visit patients anytime and anywhere. When I say anytime, I mean they are expected to see patients regardless of the weather, the season, or the time of day/night. When IV pumps need to be restarted, community nurses are paged to see the patient even if there is a snow storm or a heavy rain. Good driving in the dark is a must for community nurses because oftentimes they are called to see a patient even if it is in the middle of the night. Community nurses cannot choose whom to see. For them, a patient who lives in a wealthy neighbourhood is the same as that patient who lives in a dilapidated bungalow in a dangerous neighbourhood. Community nursing is not an easy job...but it does get easier after drinking that hot chocolate drink which Mrs Smith (my patient who requires wound dressing) specially prepares for me.

Technology in Community Nursing

Technology has really made a big difference in the way community nurses communicate with each other. Because community nurses do not have a “nursing station” where they can meet and exchange reports and information regarding patients’ care plan and care treatment, community nurses rely heavily on technology. Community nurses utilize the Internet to email reports to colleagues, fax machines to receive caseload reports and referrals, and cell phones to provide and receive information when the matter is urgent. Without the use of these technologies, community nurses would feel isolated in the community. Technology helps community nurses to work as a team.