For a nurse, working in the hospital is the ultimate goal as it polishes her skills. However, the recent trend of providing homecare services is gaining ground in India as it not only gives job satisfaction, but also leads to better remunerations and growth opportunities, says USHA PRABHAKAR
Homecare services simply means providing trained nursing care at home. Depending on one’s medical needs or the needs of the elderly in the family, a registered nurse can be with you round the clock. This kind of service is not only beneficial for the patience, it has opened up many job opportunities for the nurses, both men and women especially in cities. The advantage of providing homecare are manifold.
Patient-centric nursing and professional satisfaction: Nurse’s first and foremost aim is to take care of their patients. But the large number of patients they have to look after in hospitals sometimes bogs them down. Though the intention is always to be by their patients’ side, nurses find it difficult to actually do so. Again the work pressure.
Homecare service providers usually assign less patients to their nurses with a view to ensuring maximum and undivided attention to those in need. Mostly, the number is as less as one patient. When the number of patients is less, the scope of interaction with the patient and the care that could be provided is invariably high.
The feeling of doing the core job of nursing — taking care of patients boosts nurse’s professional satisfaction level. Besides, they also find time to impart health education to patients, inform them about the treatment being followed and do their counseling. Being associated with homecare service provider is the extension of what nurses learn during their stint at a hospital and practice those individually.
Autonomous working and decision-making: In hospitals, nurses are usually very well protected by their doctors. Undoubtedly, it is good.
However, such a thing in the long run makes the nurses dependent and in critical situations they are unable to take decisions. The case is different with homecare service providing companies. The treating doctor is always kept in the loop and the treatment is purely based on his/her prescription, but here the doctor is not present physically. So, all the decisions which have to be taken in the event of any problem that arise while administering the treatment is solely on the shoulders of the nurse.
When such a situation is dealt with successfully, the outcome is increased self confidence. It not only sharpens their decision-making skills, but also clinical skills. Getting armed with skills of handling critical situations independently adds to their professional worth and growth.
learning, training and high exposure: Most of the nurses who provide homecare have a minimum experience of two years. They usually get all their training of having worked with a hospital. The basic understanding of work is one of the prerequisites. Before the nurses are finally get hired as homecare takers, they go through a six-week homecare training course consisting of two weeks of nurse refresher course, one week course for each homecare training and IT training and two-week course where in pay shadow visits to patients’ home while assisting trained nurses.
At the end of the scenario-based training, a competency check is performed. Apart from the training, nurses also get exposed to all kinds of patients ranging from cancer (oncology), heart (cardiology), orthopedics, critical care, bariatric, post-operative, mother and child care to elderly care, home pulmonolgy, IVF, infertility, home dialysis and diabetic (VAC dressing). Such a vast exposure expands their learning curve and they gain insight into dealing with patients with varied ailments. They later on have the choice to choose specialisation depending upon their choice of field. This cements their career prospects as well.
Financial satisfaction and growth prospects: Job benefits apart from work remuneration are a way to make employees feel cared for. If there is any overtime, nurses are compensated for it monetarily. The salary also is better that what is offered elsewhere. On employee and patient referrals too, they are rewarded. Also, if a nurse holds extra qualification, then on every extra degree or diploma, incentive is paid to them.
Besides, there is a policy in place for permanent promotions. Hierarchy wise, nurses have can become nursing director and they can even get elevated to the level of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) due to the availability of cross-sectional opportunities.
While hospitals are the ultimate calling for nurses, the concept of homecare services is another area that ensures promising careers for nurses. While hospitals are always a training ground, homecare services is turning out to be a new professional arena to enhance and sharpen skills.
(The writer is nursing director, HealthCare at Home)