The demand for home-based care is increasing in the country. At-home health care services are provided by skilled practitioners and nursing assistants with the aim of helping a patient recover or feel comfortable in end-of-life care. Patient safety is the foundation of quality healthcare everywhere around the world. 

Healthcare institutions prioritise improving safety and quality of care. Institutions that do provide home nursing care provide quality care, facilitating the autonomy of the patient and accommodating their individual preferences. 

Even though top-notch service providers have set guidelines to ensure patient privacy and safety, here’s what you should expect from them to ensure patient safety at home. 

Key Aspects to Improve Patient Safety at Home

Home healthcare institutions work with an individualised plan for maximum impact on the patient’s health. They create a routine that the patients follow, and their caregivers supervise. 

Adhering to this routine is crucial but it’s also important to create a suitable environment for the patients to live a comfortable and safe life. 

Maintain Effective Hygiene

Patient safety begins with the caregiver’s and the house’s hygiene. This means that the caregivers must know when and how to clean the house, themselves, and the patient. 

In hospitals, we often find alcohol-based rubs and gloves placed at several places, which is required for safety and compliance. As for a caregiver, the patient’s safety should be the top priority; maintaining hygiene means protecting them from unwanted infections. 

You can get high-quality rubs and gloves at your home as well and instruct the caregiver to use them when helping the patient eat, walk around, give medicines, etc. 

Effective Usage of Barrier Precautions

In addition to wearing protective gloves and PPE kits to stop the spread of infections, caregivers should follow these practices;

• Regularly supervise the disinfection of all the surfaces that are in direct contact with the patient, including bedside tables, bathroom surfaces, doorknobs, etc. 

• The used gloves, PPE kits, masks, and contaminated dressings must be disposed of in a designated bin. 

• Wash the soiled linens in hot water with bleach or a disinfectant detergent. 

In addition to practising these three, minimise visitors and educate everyone in the home towards the patient’s condition and what precautions to take for interacting. 

Fall Prevention Patient Safety Setup at Home

With patients’ fragile health, falling and accidents can further aggravate the situation. As falls are a leading cause of injury and fractures, making your house fall-proof with the help of the nurses includes making the necessary changes. 

• Flooring: Get rid of loose rugs or secure them to the floor with adhesive strips. Get non-slip mats for the bathroom, kitchen, and stair areas. 

• Assistive Devices: Install grab bars and handles near the bathroom, toilet, and tubs. Also, add handrails on the sides of the stairs.

• Furniture: Ensure you have sturdy furniture at your home that is of an appropriate height, facilitating easy sitting and standing. 

• Lighting: All the areas where the patient goes shall have appropriate lighting. The hallways, bathrooms, bedrooms, etc., must have lighting that improves the patient’s visibility at night. 

Medication Management

An important patient safety goal for the home is helping the patients take medicines on time. A detailed list of medications, dosages, and schedules must be maintained. 

Have a proper place to store medicines, ensuring they are out of the patient’s and children’s reach. For patients with a dedicated nursing assistant always available, they shouldn’t allow the patients to take medicines themselves. 

In an effort to improve safety and quality of care, always follow proper medicines disposal procedures for unused and expired products. 

Nutritional Care for Patient Safety at Home

Adequate nutrition for home care patients is pivotal to keeping them safe and healthy. The nursing assistants you hire must have an in-depth understanding of the patient’s dietary habits and doctor recommendations. 

Have a balanced diet to ensure the patient receives a balanced diet, which promotes effective healing. When choosing a patient care at home service provider, I prefer the ones who can delegate a nutritionist to help plan the patient’s diet. 

Always maintain adequate hydration by encouraging regular water intake during the day. Moreover, practice food hygiene to prevent foodborne health conditions. Build a system for proper food storage, preparation, and cooking temperatures. 

Emergency Preparedness and Communication

One of the ways to ensure patient safety at home is maintaining open communication between the patients and caregivers. Encourage the patients to discuss health changes and concerns with the nursing assistants. 

Build a clear and detailed emergency plan in case of falls, accidents, or sudden illnesses. Build a system for the patients to contact their caregivers, nurses, and relatives promptly in times of emergencies. 

Buy a medical alert system, such as wearables and room sensors, that can detect changes in a patient’s health and alert the concerned people. 

Ensuring Patient Privacy and Confidentiality in At Home Care

It’s natural for anyone to hire someone to take care of a patient’s health at their home. Effective implementation of privacy and confidentiality is required to maintain the patient’s dignity and respect their wishes. 

Do the following to ensure privacy and confidentiality patient care at home;

Establish Open Communication

Have upfront conversation with your healthcare providers, nurses, doctors, and medical assistants. Explain the patient’s requirements and your expectations regarding the patient’s privacy. 

Understand how the care providers will handle patient’s sensitive information and what procedures they follow to maintain the confidentiality of the medical records. 

Set Clear Boundaries

Know what to share with the caregivers, family members, and relatives. Decide who will be the first point of contact for the caregivers when they want to talk about the patient. They shouldn’t talk to anyone who comes to meet the patient about their health.

Share Limited Personal Information

The caregivers will need some personal details about the patient, but they need not know everything happening in the patient’s life. Be selective in what you share with the patients, and always go ahead with medical information first. 

If there are some details that will impact the care and treatment the patients will receive, share them afterwards as auxiliary information. 

Encourage Dignified Behavior

The caregivers are already well-taught and intelligent people who deal with patients on a daily basis. However, the hospital settings are different from at-home care, which means the patient safety goals are also different here. 

Share clear instructions with the nurses, medical assistants, etc., on what sort of behaviour qualifies the patients as dignified and intelligent. 

How does Santokh Care Represent the Eminence of Patient Safety At Home?

Santokh Care provides at-home nursing care, medical assistants, and customised care services for NRI parents. Our staff is trained by world-class experts to ensure patient safety, privacy, and confidentiality while adhering to the best practices for deploying intelligent healthcare solutions. 

The entire team at Santokh Care works together to build a plan for the patient’s needs and to ensure patient safety in home health care. We take pride in offering the best healthcare solutions you need for your loved ones. 

In addition to these services, we also have a rapid response system that is ready to provide the required assistance in emergencies, ensuring your loved one receives every possible treatment according to the situation. 

Contact Santokh Care to learn more about how we can help you take care of your loved ones with the best patient safety practices at home.