As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the United States, the healthcare system continues to suffer from capacity and staffing problems. People suffering from other medical conditions may be turned away or are afraid to risk entering a hospital for treatment. These patients still require medical care as do the COVID-19 patients who have ongoing health issues caused by the virus. That's where in-home health care providers have stepped up to help with overburdened health care systems.

Services In-home Health Care Personnel Provide

In-home nursing care providers visit a patient wherever they reside (home, apartment, assisted living, or nursing home) and perform medical services for acute or chronic conditions that do not require hospitalization. These services can include:

• Physician care. Typically, a doctor must prescribe in-home health services, and may periodically visit the patient's home to review and make changes to the patient's medical care.
• Nursing care. Nursing professionals are the backbone of in-home health care. They may visit a patient daily, weekly, or monthly to provide medical treatments for injuries, chronic or acute diseases, post-operative care, intravenous therapy, or whatever care the physician prescribes.
• Physical and occupational therapy. These health services help people to regain their strength, flexibility, and social abilities so they can perform daily tasks or return to work.
• Social services. These providers can help with counseling and finding community resources that can aid the patient's recovery.

COVID-19 Challenges for In-Home Nursing Providers

Home health care providers face several challenges in providing safe and effective in-home medical services during the pandemic.

Face-to-face visits are usually the most effective way to provide medical care, but that exposes both the patient and provider to the virus. Providers need to limit in-person visits whenever possible by using alternative strategies. They need to become familiar with telehealth technologies such as telephonic, teleconferencing, and telemonitoring.

A related challenge is the global shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Without access to PPE, in-home nursing providers must protect themselves through telemedicine technologies.

Another challenge is gaining access to the most at-risk patients. Many nursing homes, assisted living, and senior living facilities have strict lock-down policies and don't allow external health care providers, even though they may have limited medical staff. These facilities need to realize that these in-home nursing staffs take the same safety precautions and provide the same excellent care as their own nursing staff.

Fortunately, when widespread vaccination of health care providers and at-risk patients becomes available, many of these barriers will diminish. This will truly allow in-home nursing providers to fill in the gaps and relieve the shortages plaguing the hospitals and health currently care systems. 

Share