When you should consider a private nurse

 After a loved one has been through a strenuous health experience, the journey back to fitness can be daunting. You need to fall-proof your home, manage their medications, and assist them with any daily activities. A lot of times, you just don’t have the expertise or time to be able to give them as much attention as they need. When you are caretaking remotely, this can get even more difficult if they need additional support.

Private nursing care at home is emerging as a preferable alternative between 100% personal care and 100% hospitalization. With home care, you can get a well-trained nurse to support your loved one 24x7 and aid their quick recovery, in the comfort of their own home.

This guide will help you decide if a private nurse is the right choice for you. 

1. Complicated Treatment

If the treatment has been a complex procedure and there are even minute chances of relapse, a private nurse will help you closely monitor all the symptoms. These nurses are well trained in patient management and based on your condition, can give you more personalized attention and suggestions.

After a complicated treatment, it takes time for the patient to settle back into normal life but they may not be willing to admit that they need additional support. In such a case, a private nurse provides them their independence with help right by their side should they need anything. Instead of suffocating them with treatments, assisted care provides them with enough breathing room to grow back into being their own caretakers.

So ask yourself the question, “Will recovery from this treatment take time and patience?” If your answer is Yes, a private nurse in the early stages will help you get useful tips and closely monitor symptoms.

2. Risk of Infection

If their illness increases their vulnerability to infectious diseases, getting at-home care will be significantly better than prolonged hospitalization.

While a hospital does provide you access to your doctor 24x7, a personal nurse can be just as good at monitoring and recognizing any early changes in the patient’s conditions. Keeping them at home instead of a hospital, especially during the pandemic, significantly reduces the chances of them contracting infections and complicating their condition.

As a visitor and their caretaker, home care will also keep you safer compared to traveling back and forth to a hospital every day.

Ask yourself the question, “Is their immune system strong enough to cope with infections?” and if your answer is No, home care will be the better choice for you.

3. Companionship

A major problem with hospitalized patients is that they suffer from the stress of loneliness. It is overwhelming being in a hospital environment with no familiarity in sight.

Home nurses can provide them much needed companionship and also allow you to stay by their side more often. You can opt for work for home and with a home nurse taking care of everything, you can be there, providing them moral support when they need it.

Assisted treatment at home also removes the barriers of visiting hours, allowing their friends and relatives to come more flexibly and spend time with them. 

 

Often, older adults will not be willing to admit that they need companionship because they may not want to burden you. But unless some loved one is by their side 24x7, a hospital will increase their stress levels and may not be the ideal choice if they are only there for monitoring and recovery.

So ask yourself the question, “Can this treatment be done at home?” and if the answer is Yes, opt for assisted care.

4. Cost-Effectiveness

Another problem with in-hospital care is that the treatment can be expensive. The charges for comfortable rooms are through the roof, especially at a time when a lot of institutions are running out of capacity.

Private care at home is significantly cheaper compared to a private room at a care center. Other than this, you also save on the costs of regular visits to the doctor because a private nurse can do most of the daily monitoring right at home. 

Ask yourself the question, “Is a private nurse more affordable for me?” and if the answer is Yes, choose a well-structured assisted private nursing facility.

5. Safer 

A private nurse helps you install relevant support tools in your house, such as rails for the bathroom and carpet for slippery flooring. If your loved one is at risk of falling, this is the most important benefit that you will derive from a private nurse.

They will also support them when they want to go anywhere and remind them of their medication from time to time. You will be at lesser risk of forgetting something important and you will be able to get the right bandages, monitoring tools, etc. that you will require.

When you don’t have the knowledge about these resources, relying on a private nurse is the safest option as they have been doing this for years and will make the right choices for you. There are several supplementary precautions that an older adult in recovery needs which are best provided by a trained practitioner for their safety.

Ask yourself the question, “Can I give them 100% of the support and equipment they need?” and if your answer is No, a private nurse will help you change that.

6. Caretaker Burnout

Lastly and most importantly, caring for someone is a strenuous task. You are doing chores for two instead of one and providing them a lot of additional mental and physical support which is stressful.

Remember, your strength will provide the support that your loved one needs to recover. If caring for them while managing your daily work is weakening your mental health, a private nurse will allow you to take better care of yourself and make yourself more emotionally available.

Ask yourself the question, “Am I able to handle this?” and if the answer is No, please opt for a private nurse because you need to take care of your health to be able to help those around you.

We hope this guide proves useful to you. If you need any more support on what kind of home care you need, we at Antara Living do a 1-on-1 consultation with you and the patient before recommending any plans. Feel free to reach out here and we will visit you personally as soon as possible!