11188042-avisitingredinurse

The Importance Of Hiring A Visiting Nurse For An Older Loved One With Diabetes

Mon, 29 Jan 2024 18:22:19 GMT

Aging is a natural process that comes with its own set of challenges. One of the most troubling issues is managing chronic diseases, especially for senior citizens who live alone. Diabetes is one such condition that needs constant management. It requires the monitoring of blood sugar levels, regular exercise, and a healthy diet.

If you have an elderly loved one living with diabetes, you may have noticed signs that they are not taking good care of themselves. This could be due to forgetfulness or general neglect, which is common in older adults. But failing to manage diabetes can lead to serious complications such as heart disease, kidney damage, and vision loss.

This is where hiring a visiting nurse can help. A visiting nurse can provide care and support for your loved one who needs to manage their condition better. Here, we will explore the importance of hiring a visiting nurse and how they can help your loved one live a healthier life.

Assessing the Need for a Visiting Nurse

The first step is to assess the need for a visiting nurse. Here are some signs that your loved one needs the help of a nurse:

• They have poor diabetes management habits such as skipping meals, not taking medication on time, or not monitoring their blood sugar regularly.

• They have mobility issues, which make it difficult to perform day-to-day tasks.

• They have difficulty managing their medications, and their prescription doses often get mixed up.

• They have frequent hospitalizations or ER visits related to their diabetes.

• They have other health problems that require monitoring and treatment.

If your loved one is experiencing any of the above signs, it is time to consider hiring a visiting nurse. Your loved one's general doctor can be helpful in aiding your loved one into accepting a visiting nurse.

Benefits of Hiring a Visiting Nurse

A visiting nurse can provide several benefits to your loved one living with diabetes. Here are some examples:

• They can monitor your loved one's blood sugar levels and adjust their medications if necessary.

• They can help your loved one adhere to a healthy diet and lifestyle, including regular exercise.

• They can help with wound care and assist in preventing infections, especially in areas that are prone to weather-related damage such as feet and hands.

• They can provide emotional support, reduce loneliness and decrease depression by engaging and listening to your elder community.

• They can teach your loved one about self-care and provide education and resources about diabetes management.

• In some cases, visiting nurses can administer medication, including insulin injections, that your loved one may not be able to do themselves.

Nurse Qualifications to Look For

When looking for a visiting nurse for your loved one, be sure to hire qualified professionals who have the training and experience to help your loved one live better with diabetes. Here are some qualifications to look for:

• They should be licensed and certified nurses with a strong diabetes management in their curriculum.

• They should have experience working with seniors, including the elderly community, and have an understanding of older adult health-related needs.

• They should have excellent communication skills to establish trust and confidence with your loved one.

Hiring a visiting nurse for your elderly loved one with diabetes can provide tremendous benefits, improving their overall quality of life. It is essential to look out for signs that your loved one is not properly managing their diabetes and take immediate steps to remedy these situations. Ensure that the visiting nurse you hire has the necessary qualifications and experience to support the needs of your elderly parent or loved one. By doing so, you can rest easy knowing your loved one is in good hands. Ready to offer your loved one more care? Schedule an appointment with A Visiting Redi-Nurse today.

The Right Time To Hire a Private Duty Nurse

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 20:02:57 GMT

Taking care of a medically challenged loved one can be an emotionally and physically exhausting experience. It's not just the constant attention and care they require but also the many decisions that you have to make along the way. Many families turn to private duty nurses to help shoulder the responsibilities and provide professional medical care for their loved ones.

Private duty nurses are registered or licensed practical nurses who provide specialized one-on-one care in the comfort of the patient's own home. But when is the right time to hire one? Read on to learn more.

1. During Post-Surgery Recovery

Post-surgery recovery can be a challenging time, especially for seniors. In many cases, they require more than just routine care. They need professional medical oversight to ensure the healing process proceeds without complications. Seniors are often more vulnerable to postoperative complications and slower healing due to their age and associated health conditions.

Hiring a private-duty nurse can significantly alleviate the burden on family caregivers while ensuring your loved one receives the specialized care they need.

For example, private-duty nurses can provide skilled nursing care, including wound care and medication administration, and help with activities of daily living (ADLs). They can also closely monitor the patient's vital signs and promptly identify any potential issues, preventing them from escalating into more serious health problems.

In addition, a private-duty nurse can also offer emotional support to both the patient and their family during this challenging time. They can provide a listening ear, offer companionship, and help alleviate the feelings of isolation or loneliness that could occur during post-surgery recovery.

2. After Serious Cognitive Impairment

Caring for a loved one with cognitive impairment issues like dementia presents a unique set of challenges, often requiring round-the-clock supervision and specialized care. Dementia patients may experience symptoms such as memory loss, confusion, mood swings, and difficulty with day-to-day tasks––all of which can progressively worsen over time.

In such a situation, hiring a private-duty nurse can be incredibly beneficial. These healthcare professionals are trained to manage the complexities of dementia care and provide medical assistance, cognitive stimulation, and emotional support. They can tailor their care approach to the patient's preferences, ensuring they are comfortable, safe, and engaged.

Dementia can also lead to physical complications, including a higher risk of falls, malnutrition, and overall physical decline. Having a private-duty nurse can help manage these risks better. They can monitor the patient's physical condition, administer necessary medications, and quickly identify and address any emerging health concerns.

These professionals already have the medical expertise and experience to anticipate potential issues, ensuring your loved one receives the best care possible.

They can also assist with ADLs, such as bathing, dressing, and feeding, which can become increasingly challenging for dementia patients. This level of comprehensive care significantly lessens the burden on family caregivers, giving you peace of mind that your loved one is in capable hands while also improving your loved one's quality of life.

3. During the End-of-Life Stage

When a loved one is nearing the end of life, the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges can be overwhelming for both the patient and their family. It's a time of heightened stress and profound sadness, where the need for compassionate, professional care is critical.

Hiring a private-duty nurse during this period can be an invaluable decision. These healthcare professionals offer a comprehensive and personalized approach to end-of-life care, ensuring that your loved one's final days are as peaceful and comfortable as possible.

They can help manage pain, discomfort, and other symptoms that could make life difficult for the patient. This level of care allows families to focus on spending quality time with their loved ones during those last precious moments.

A private-duty nurse is a steady presence and a trusted partner in caring for your loved one. So don't hesitate to explore this option when the time is right for you and your family. Talk to us at A Visiting Redi-Nurse to learn more about how our private-duty nurses can support your loved one's needs and make a positive impact on their well-being.

Have Serious Health Issues? 5 Tips To Prepare for Natural Disasters

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 19:22:09 GMT

A natural disaster can happen to anyone at any time. Whether your local area is prone to a particular disaster—like Florida's recurring hurricanes—or not, preparation is one key to successfully managing and surviving whatever is thrown at you. But if your household includes a family member with serious mobility or health issues, preparedness is even more vital. To help you create a workable plan, use these tips for success.

1. Create a Support Network

Ideally, you would be able to call upon outside help—such as law enforcement and first responders—in the event of a natural disaster. However, don't count on this since it may not be an option.

Instead, form a personal support network you can draw upon closer to home and within family or friends. This may include everyone in the household, close neighbors, building security or caretakers, home care professionals, or members of your church. Use the expertise of those more experienced in helping others, especially with mobility problems, and give clear assignments to ensure everything gets done.

2. Have Backup Plans

The more needs you or your loved one has, the more backup plans you should create. Does the person need daily medication? Set aside at least a week's worth at home. Do they rely on devices that need electricity? Keep non-powered versions available if possible. Think about ways to provide a backup plan for everything needed to maintain life or evacuate.

Finding the right backup plans takes some effort, time, and creativity. Someone heavily reliant on electricity-powered devices like breathing machines may need to invest in a generator. But someone with special dietary restrictions should brainstorm a more detailed and larger supply of appropriate food and beverages at home or in their emergency bag.

3. Make Things Clear

Can you locate emergency supplies or the tools needed to escape without power or lights, in the middle of a storm, or during an emotional evacuation? What about everyone in the household? Can all household members help the person with special needs? Keep emergency supplies where they are easily accessed and label them clearly. Write down instructions for devices, such as how to connect an oxygen tank if the power fails.

4. Test Out Your Plans

Once your household devises an emergency plan, test it out by actually following it. Choose the most likely natural disaster in your area and pretend as a household that you are experiencing it.

It may feel somewhat silly, but lean into this test run. Involve your personal support network, even if you just phone or text them to make contact. Physically access emergency supplies, perhaps in the dark or relying only on yourself or a specific family member. Follow your evacuation plan as a group and individually. Note what works and what doesn't.

5. Reevaluate Plans Regularly

Everyone's personal and living situation changes over time. Don't let your emergency plans fall behind these changes.

Make a checklist of your emergency supplies and inspect them at least once per year. Replace perishable items like food, water, and medications annually. And do another test run of your plan on a regular basis, such as twice per year. Discuss what's changed in your health or living situation since the last test, and make changes accordingly.

Where Can You Learn More?

The experienced home caregiving team at A Visiting Redi Nurse can help you or your family craft a natural disaster preparedness plan that accommodates everyone's needs. We will work with you to identify both specific needs and find solutions you can enact whether you're stuck at home or fleeing it. Call today to make an appointment or speak with one of our trusted professionals.

Compassionate Care at Your Doorstep: 3 Benefits of a Visiting Nurse

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 21:00:41 GMT

Being a caretaker is a nonstop job that may leave you feeling stressed and pulled in many directions at once. With the assistance of in-home care, not only do you get a break but your loved one receives superb care with their safety in mind at all times. Here are just three ways hiring a visiting nurse is the best thing you can do for your loved one and yourself.

Companionship for Your Loved One

Lack of companionship can have detrimental effects on an already weary mind and heart. When it comes to caretaking duties, you may be feeling guilty that you no longer have enough time to spend with your loved one. This is a common complaint of many caretakers who are trying to juggle work and other responsibilities in addition to taking care of their loved ones.

A Trusted, Familiar Face

Visiting nurses provide physical care for their patients as well as companionship and emotional support. For your loved one, going through the advanced stages of their life can be a difficult road to navigate. They will greatly appreciate having someone near to talk to and share stories with. Though this is different from the physical care that a nurse provides, companionship is an essential aspect of care that can greatly improve mood and well-being.

Personalized At-Home Care

A visiting nurse will have a comprehensive understanding of what your loved one needs on a daily basis. This will include bathing routines, mealtimes, what types of food they enjoy, activities and medications. You can always communicate with the visiting nurse regarding any specific needs your loved one has that will make their day easier. With this level of care provided, you can go about your day knowing they are in the best hands possible.

Familiarity with Meds and Routine

A visiting nurse will be up to speed with what medications are required during their stay. This means they'll know exactly which meds your loved one is on as well as what time these need to be taken.

Providing food or water with certain medications will also be enforced and you can be rest assured that your family member will have their medication given at the correct time each day. The daily routine will also be discussed with you to ensure your loved one feels as comfortable as possible throughout their day.

A Break for Caretakers

One of the best reasons you should get a visiting nurse to care for your loved one is for your own health and well-being. Yes, your own health can take a significant hit when you're dealing with the everyday stresses of being a caretaker. Burnout, anxiety, depression and exhaustion are all common complains of many caretakers who often feel overwhelmed with their duties.

Allow the work to stay with a trusted professional nurse who can help alleviate your workload.

Avoiding Burnout in the Future

When you feel obligated to care for a loved one in need, you can easily become overwhelmed. Not only are you worrying about and addressing their needs, but you also have to manage work and other responsibilities.

If you do not allow yourself a much-needed break from time to time, it could lead to a burnout situation. Allowing care to be delegated to a trusted visiting nurse is an excellent way you can care for your own mental health and well-being. Remember that you matter, too.

If you are looking for quality care for your loved one, contact A Visiting Redi Nurse . We are dedicated to providing our patients with the companionship they need, keen attention to detail, and daily care with their best interest always as a priority. With our services, you can take a step back from your caretaker duties and allow our nurses to administer the care that your loved one needs most.

3 Helpful In-Home Therapies

Thu, 18 May 2023 21:46:31 GMT

No matter how hard you work to help a loved one cope with an illness or disability, you may face challenges that call for specialized skills and techniques. In addition to medical care and assistance with daily tasks, your loved one might benefit from different forms of therapy that can help them regain their abilities and independence.

Fortunately, in-home nursing services can bring the therapy to your loved ones instead of forcing your loved one to make difficult or impossible trips to a facility. Once you know more about these various services, you may want to schedule them for that special person in your life. Take a look at three common options.

1. Physical Therapy

If you've ever needed physical therapy to aid your recovery from an illness or injury, you may already feel familiar with this discipline. Physical therapy focuses on rehabilitation techniques that restore mobility, balance, strength, or stability. Supervised exercises address the individual's specific needs and limitations.

In-home physical therapists typically help individuals struggling with dementia, a recent stroke, a debilitating injury, or a disorder that impairs nerve or muscle function. They also treat individuals recovering from a hip replacement or other major surgery. Some physical therapy treatments can also help manage chronic pain.

If you schedule in-home physical therapy for your loved ones, a licensed therapist will conduct an initial evaluation to determine what skills your loved one needs to regain. Exercises that improve strength and flexibility may help your loved one move about more safely, easily, and comfortably, reducing their need for assistance.

2. Occupational Therapy

Like physical therapy, occupational therapy aims to help individuals regain lost strength and coordination. However, this form of therapy focuses on the restoration of specific skills necessary for daily tasks such as eating, bathing, cooking, and getting dressed. It can also help working-age people return to their jobs.

Occupational therapy can involve more than just exercises. Your loved one's therapist can also make recommendations about installing assistive devices around the home, training the loved one on how to use those devices safely. Some occupational therapists can even help individuals deal with emotional or mental health conditions.

Many associate occupational therapy with workers who are disabled or elderly individuals. In reality, people of all ages, employed or not, may benefit from this kind of care. For instance, children struggling with physical or mental challenges can fine-tune essential skills that aid their achievements, first in school and then later in life.

3. Speech Therapy

A devastating neurological issue such as dementia, a stroke, or a traumatic brain injury can damage the nerves, muscles, or part of the brain associated with speech. These problems can also interfere with other oral functions such as swallowing. In-home speech therapy can address these and other related challenges.

The type of therapy your speech therapist provides will depend on your loved one's specific problem. Loved ones recovering from a stroke might need training on sound formation to help them use the right words. Individuals with weak throat structures might need therapy that improves their ability to swallow or vocalize.

Speech therapy can improve brain health even as it improves communication skills. This form of training can sometimes restore cognitive function, helping solve problems more easily and understand more of what others say. Meanwhile, improved communication helps to reduce isolation and keep the mind stimulated.

If you feel that someone you love could benefit from any of these therapeutic options, seek out the caring experts at A Visiting Redi-Nurse. We can evaluate the situation, recommend the appropriate courses of treatment, and then administer the necessary therapy in the comfort of your loved one's home. Contact us today.

The Advantages of In-Home Nursing Services

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 12:00:41 GMT

Individuals who receive in-home care nursing services benefit from a variety of healthcare and personal assistance in the comfort of their homes. People of all ages can benefit from these services, but seniors and people with disabilities or long-term illnesses benefit the most. Read on to discover some reasons why in-home nursing services might be the best choice for people needing medical and personal help.

Individualized and Personalized Care

In-home nursing services can improve individual and personalized care for patients by giving them care that is specific to their needs and wants.

Because in-home nursing services are given in the patient's home, healthcare providers can learn more about their specific needs and preferences and adjust their care to meet those needs. This care is beneficial for people who have complicated medical conditions or need specialized care because it means they can get the care that is made just for them.

In-home nursing services also let patients get care in a familiar and comfortable setting, which can improve their overall healthcare experience and satisfaction. Personalized care can also improve patients' health outcomes and quality of life by ensuring they get the best care for their needs.

Convenience and Comfort

In-home nursing services can make patients' lives much easier and more comfortable by letting them get medical care in their own homes and making care more flexible and convenient.

With in-home nursing, people can get medical care in the comfort and safety of their homes. This service benefits people who have trouble moving around or traveling because then they don't have to go to a healthcare facility to get treatment.

In-home nursing services are also more convenient for caregivers because they allow them to care for their loved ones in the comfort of their homes instead of having to arrange transportation and appointments at a healthcare facility.

In-home nursing services can also provide a more flexible and personalized approach to care, allowing patients to receive care when and how they want. This flexibility benefits patients with a busy schedule or trouble fitting their care into their daily routines.

Cost-Effective

In-home nursing services may be more cost-effective for patients than hospital care. In-home nursing services allow patients to get care in the comfort of their own homes, which can be less expensive than getting care in a facility. In-home nursing services can also help healthcare systems save money by reducing the need for costly hospitalizations and emergency department visits.

Furthermore, in-home nursing provides ongoing preventative care to patients, lowering healthcare costs. This continuity can help keep people from getting sick and reduce the need for future, more expensive treatments.

Care Continuity

In-home nursing services can significantly improve patient care by providing consistent medical care. This kind of continuous care benefits people with long-term health problems or who need long-term care because it lets them get care in a place they know and are comfortable with.

So, it lowers the risk of care gaps and ensures that patients get the support and treatment they need to stay healthy and happy.

Professional Treatment

In-home nurses offer more care and support than you can get on your own. They also offer 24-hour care and support, especially if you have complex medical needs or need frequent monitoring.

In-home nursing includes services like managing your medications, caring for wounds, and helping you get back on your feet after getting sick or hurt. Finally, working with in-home nurses can provide you and your loved ones with peace of mind, knowing that you are receiving the best possible care in the comfort of your home.

Consider hiring Redi-Nurse if you or a loved one require medical or personal assistance. Our skilled team of in-home nurses is dedicated to giving you care tailored to your needs. We want to help you maintain a high quality of life by giving you individualized care plans and a wide range of services. Contact us today to learn more and to set up a consultation with one of our caring and knowledgeable nurses.

A Quick Guide to Understanding Dementia

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 11:58:16 GMT

Dementia is an umbrella term for symptoms that affect an individual's thinking, memory, and social abilities in a way that affects their quality of life. One of the main and most common symptoms of dementia is memory loss. However, experiencing memory loss does not necessarily mean an individual suffers from dementia. Furthermore, other factors can trigger memory loss. Below is a quick guide to dementia.

Causes of Dementia

Dementia comes as a result of loss or damage to the nerve cells of the brain. Dementia affects individuals differently and causes different symptoms depending on the affected area of the brain. So far, researchers have connected brain changes to some dementia forms but have not yet identified anything that can prevent dementia. A healthy lifestyle may help reduce risk factors associated with dementia.

Types of Dementia

There are several types of dementia, and they include the following.

Cortical Dementias

This type includes dementias such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob and Alzheimer's. Cortical dementias come about due to issues with the brain's outer layer—the cerebral cortex. As a result, people with this dementia type usually suffer severe memory loss. They also cannot understand language or remember words.

Subcortical Dementias

Subcortical dementias result from issues in parts of the brain below the cortex. People with this type of dementia have a slow thinking speed and may start activities slower than usual. But, they do not show forgetfulness or have issues with language. People who are likely to suffer from this type of dementia include those with HIV, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease.

Mixed Dementia

Mixed dementia denotes two or more dementia types. In such cases, the affected individuals show brain changes associated with different dementia forms.

Diagnosis of Dementia

When your medical team suspects that you may have dementia, they first assess and see whether you have other underlying conditions that may be causing the symptoms you are experiencing. They will carry out a physical exam to measure vital signs. The doctor may also order lab tests for blood, chemicals, vitamins, and hormones to rule out different possible causes.

The doctor or medical team may also review your family and medical history to see if you have any dementia risks. You may also undergo brain scans, genetic and blood tests, psychiatric evaluations, and cognitive and neurological tests.

Symptoms of Dementia

Some early signs of dementia include the following.

Challenges Planning or Solving Problems

Apart from memory loss, people with dementia may have a problem developing plans and working with numbers. For instance, they may find it difficult to keep track of their bills and follow familiar recipes. They may take longer to finish tasks they did before and find it hard to concentrate.

Language Problems

If you notice that your loved one is suddenly substituting words that do not fit in a conversation or forgetting words, they may be experiencing the early onset of dementia. While anybody may have problems occasionally finding the right words to express themselves, people with dementia forget simple words or substitute words so much that they become incomprehensible.

Disorientation

A person with dementia may keep getting lost in a familiar place. They may also lose their sense of time and not know the day. Suddenly, they cannot remember why they went to the kitchen, forget their medication, and do not understand how they got to a place. The disorientation may be coupled with impaired judgment. For example, the person may fail to recognize when they have a medical problem or are not dressed properly for the cold weather.

As your loved ones age, they may develop conditions requiring you to offer more care. If they need assistance with day-to-day activities, you can contact A Visiting Redi Nurse. We offer comprehensive in-home nursing to make life easier for you and your loved ones. Contact us today.

Best Exercises for Seniors

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 17:02:39 GMT

Proper exercise is key to a healthy lifestyle, and the need to exercise becomes more important as people grow older. When seniors exercise regularly, they become more independent and can complete most tasks on their own. Exercise also helps seniors to prevent many diseases, such as depression and heart disease.

So what exercises should senior adults engage in? Consider the following exercises.

1. Aquatic Exercises

Seniors can do the following aquatic exercises to improve their health.

Water Aerobics

Water aerobics includes exercising in water and can help alleviate symptoms of arthritis and joint pain. If you exercise in water, you experience less stress on your joints. Also, water aerobics enhances body balance, flexibility, and strength. Some of the common water aerobic exercises are leg lifts, arm curls, and aqua jogging.

Swimming

Swimming is another great form of aquatic exercise that doesn't exert excessive pressure on your joints. This is why swimming is the exercise of choice for seniors with osteoporosis. In addition, since water offers extra resistance during swimming, you will get strength training benefits.

2. Strength Training

Strength training isn't necessarily about lifting weights in a gym. You can complete the strength training in your home's living room or backyard. People who engage in strength training experience the following benefits:

Stronger bones
Better brain function
Improved balance
Enhanced muscle mass
Better management of chronic diseases such as diabetes and arthritis
Increased metabolism and decreased body fat

While the amount of strength training differs from one person to another, seniors should do strength training about two times a week. Here are some common types of strength training.

Squats

Muscles in the glutes, thighs, and hips can become stronger if you do regular squats. Stronger muscles in the lower body are important for seniors because of reduced functional mobility due to aging. Since there are many types of squats, you can choose ones that fit your ability. For example, you can raise your hands in front of your shoulders to improve balance.

Bicep Curls

Many people imagine a bodybuilder with protruding muscles when they hear about bicep curls. However, senior citizens who aren't interested in bodybuilding can still use bicep exercises to boost muscles and increase grip strength. You can use dumbbells or household items to do bicep curls. For example, some people use 16-oz water bottles to do bicep curls.

3. Tai Chi

If you want to boost your balance and flexibility, try tai chi. This exercise is ideal for people of any age, and you can do it in the park, gym, or at home. Also, the exercises' deliberate and slow motions require concentration that improves mental focus. However, you have to spend some time practicing to understand the routine and master the moves.

4. Keep Moving

Continual movement is another great way for seniors to exercise. Try to incorporate these exercises into your week on a regular basis.

Jogging

Jogging is an effective exercise to help senior citizens burn belly fat. If you have sufficient muscle strength, you can do regular jogging instead of just walking. A short, slow jog can eliminate more fat than walking for extended distances. However, seek advice from your doctor before you engage in jogging.

Brisk Walking

Brisk walking is a light type of exercise that has positive impacts on the muscles and heart. Unlike jogging, brisk walking doesn't strain the joints too much, so people with weak ankles or knees should prioritize brisk walking. This exercise can also help older people maintain good posture.

Get Help

Engaging in exercises can be a complicated process, especially for senior citizens in poor health. A good strategy is to get help from an in-home care provider. Redi-Nurse can provide the care provider to assist you with your exercise routine and many other things. Contact us for more information.

Caregiving Tips on Elderly With Dementia

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 20:30:05 GMT

The care of a patient with dementia presents many challenges to families and caregivers. As well as ensuring their safety, you will have to manage their changing behavior and personality.

Caring for someone with these conditions can be stressful. And you may have a challenging time fulfilling your role as well.

The following tips provide some practical ways to cope with the difficulties of caring for someone with dementia.

Schedule Wisely

The consistency of a daily routine can be helpful to a person with dementia. Much like a familiar environment can be comforting, establishing a daily routine can provide a sense of control over a chaotic life. You can create a routine around wake-up times, meals, and bedtimes.

Let your patient know what to expect as you develop the routine, regardless of whether they understand the instructions. Try to personalize the schedule to the patient's preferences and previous activities as much as possible. Even the smallest details of a loved one's daily routine can have a profound effect.

Additionally, be flexible and adapt as necessary, considering that dementia patients' abilities and preferences may change from day to day.

Plan Engaging Activities

Maintaining a busy schedule keeps the mind fresh and open to new experiences. Patients with dementia should therefore maintain an active physical and mental lifestyle.

A care recipient's interests and skills should guide your choice of activities. Building on existing skills is more effective than learning something from scratch. Also, ensure that the interest is appropriate for the patient's current ability level so they do not become frustrated.

Try to plan activities that won't overwhelm the patient. Excessive stimulation or activity at the wrong time may make the patient feel overburdened.

To avoid boredom, you can also vary your activities. Try playing board games, dancing, painting, and telling stories. You can also visit a park or garden or play with your pets outdoors.

No matter how short the activities are, they can be quite therapeutic and relaxing. Engaging in social activities also helps to maintain social bonds while challenging one to recall memories.

Improve Home Safety

You can prevent many stressful and dangerous situations by making the home environment safe. To identify and eliminate hazards within their home, caregivers who help with patients with dementia must view their homes through a new lens.

Safety assessments of each room in the home are the first step in the process.

You can do the following for safety:

Put handrails in the shower and remove any throw rugs or hazards that might contribute to a fall.
Install an automatic shutoff switch on appliances and cover electrical outlets for safety.
Remove the locks on the doors so that seniors cannot accidentally lock themselves.
Ensure all medications are properly labeled and in a locked cabinet or box.
Lock away lighters, guns, power tools, knives, scissors, and other potentially hazardous items.

If the patient has persistent cognitive symptoms, you may need to supervise them in the shower and not allow them to cook on their own.

Be Prepared for Sundowning

Sundowning is a period of restlessness, irritability, and confusion that occurs late in the afternoon and early evening.

Sundowning typically results in the worsening of existing symptoms rather than new ones, in particular mental and behavioral symptoms. Sundowning can be challenging for caregivers because it often prevents the patient from sleeping.

Predictable bedtime routines can help you manage sundowning. Limiting daytime napping and caffeine before bedtime, as well as increasing activity during the day, can also help.

Taking care of someone with dementia takes a lot of patience and dedication. Learning more about the condition can help you perform your duties to the fullest extent possible.

Feel free to contact us if you want additional tips or assistance with a patient who has dementia. With our team by your side, you can protect your elderly family member's well-being and ease your workload.

4 Smart Ways to Help Seniors Who Are Frail

Mon, 25 Jul 2022 19:57:56 GMT

If you look after a senior who struggles with osteoporosis, balance problems, cognitive challenges, or some other condition that makes them more easily fall, you may find yourself constantly worrying about that senior's safety. No matter how much effort you put into your role as caregiver, you can't eliminate every such risk.

Fortunately, you can breathe a little easier once you know how to help your senior get around more safely and easily. Take a look at four smart steps you can take to reduce fall risks for the senior who is physically frail in your life.

1. Install Handrails and Grab Bars

Handrails and grab bars offer a simple means of giving your senior much-needed support for various everyday tasks. You can install handrails that extend the entire length of hallways and stairwells to make walking a less frightening proposition. Shorter grab bars can help seniors use toilets, tubs, and kitchens with greater confidence.

Those new grab bars and handrails in your home may prove valuable to more than just the senior in your life. You may find them highly useful for maintaining your own balance as you assist your senior with toileting, bathing, or showering, preventing injuries that might otherwise render you unable to provide such assistance.

2. Provide Walking Aids

When you consider that older Americans experience 36 million falls each year (producing many reported hip fractures), you can see the importance of providing that extra degree of stability for seniors who suffer from vision, strength, or balance issues. Walking aids can make a major difference in preventing these falls.

The type of walking aid your senior can benefit from the most depends on that individual's baseline health and limitations. For instance, a light cane might prove sufficient for seniors who only need occasional help, while a heavier quad cane provides greater stability. However, hand problems can make both options impractical.

Walkers help support a senior's full weight, but they can prove awkward to use and, like canes, require a certain amount of hand and arm strength. Individuals who can't easily use these devices may find their safest and most comfortable solution in an electric wheelchair.

3. Schedule Geriatric Physical Therapy

Seniors who lead a sedentary lifestyle can experience serious muscle atrophy that eventually robs them of their stability and makes them more vulnerable to falls. To counter this trend, you may want to add a course of geriatric physical therapy to your senior's home health care routine.

Geriatric physical therapy focuses on light, safe exercises that tone the muscles, increase range of motion, boost cardiovascular endurance, and improve balance. These exercises can give your senior the leg strength, flexibility, coordination, and stability to get around with less risk of falling.

4. Hire a Companion Care Professional for Your Senior

Even after you provide assistive devices and geriatric physical therapy for your senior who is frail, you may still worry about accidents that might occur while you go to work or run errands. However, you can keep your senior as safe as possible in your absence by engaging a companion care professional.

A trained companion care professional can watch over your senior, fetching items, preparing snacks, offering medication reminders, and assisting on short ventures outdoors. This type of professional can also provide equally important mental and emotional support by chatting, playing games, and generally keeping your senior engaged.

If you need help and guidance with any or all of the above steps, you'll find it at A Visiting Redi-Nurse. Our skilled team provides both medical and non-medical assistance for seniors, including companion care when you can't supervise your senior yourself. Contact us today to learn more about our range of services.

Can In-House Care Help With Alzheimer's Management?

Thu, 26 May 2022 16:46:40 GMT

Alzheimer's, a progressive form of dementia, is a common issue among many seniors. The condition results from a combination of lifestyle, genetics, and age-related changes in the brain.

Some early signs that your loved one has Alzheimer's are memory loss, poor communication, disorientation and confusion, and poor coordination. Your loved one may also develop psychological issues like anxiety, depression, and agitation.

Although Alzheimer's may be inevitable, things get much more manageable with in-house nursing. Learn how.

In-House Care Improves Cognitive Function

Sometimes, a familiar environment is all your loved one needs to remember stuff. Retaining the patient's daily routine to keep their brain on track also helps.

For instance, suppose your loved one is used to watching a TV show before bedtime. Or, they love sitting around with their kids and grandkids for daily catchup at dinner. Maintaining such simple routines helps to reduce the symptoms of memory impairment. The patient may not understand everything now, but the fun activities often trigger a sense of love and normalcy and keep them calm.

At the same time, in-house care allows the elderly to maintain their favorite rest time spots. They can also interact with the neighbors and spend time with their pets if they own one. Such household memories boost their cognitive function and lower memory loss.

In-house nursing is a chance to stay around the structures and people they are familiar with, something they won't get if you transfer them to a care facility.

In-House Care Maintains a Healthy Diet

As soon as you notice the first sign of Alzheimer's in your loved one, do some diet tweaks to reduce the progression of symptoms. Some foods, such as fish, poultry products, leafy greens, and blueberries, slow down age-related cognitive problems.

However, the elderly might not be able to keep track of their diet, especially with memory loss and confusion. Also, you are probably busy with work, school, and your social life, so you may not always be there for them.

Invest in in-house care, and let the experts handle the patient's diet needs. These professionals know which foods are best for memory loss and which ones to avoid. They can develop a healthy routine, prepare meals, and even feed your patient.

The best part with home care is that your loved one has undivided attention. The nurse puts all their attention on your loved one, so they can quickly tell the kind of foods your loved one enjoys and which ones to do away with. Again, this is a privilege a loved one may never enjoy in a care facility.

In-Home Care Ensures Full-Time Company

Social contact helps to delay or slow down the symptoms of dementia in seniors. It also boosts their mood, which eliminates Alzheimer's effects like anxiety and agitation.

Unfortunately, in today's dynamics, some parents live miles away from their grown-up kids. And loneliness often feels like the norm of the day, which increases dementia .

In-house care ensures that your loved one has a full-time companion to converse, play games, and exercise with. The caregivers are always there to remind the patient to take medications and attend appointments.

You can rest assured that your loved one will get undivided and personalized attention from the right home care providers. Moreover, if the senior requires specific support like toileting, bathing, and dressing, the nurses are trained to fulfill that.

Your life doesn't need to come to a standstill when your loved one has Alzheimer's. A Visiting Redi-Nurse can provide your loved one with full-time assistance to make life manageable both for you and the patient. Contact us today, and let's discuss the best care plan.

Protect Your Senior Loved One Against These 4 Sensory Challenges

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 18:12:33 GMT

As individuals get older, they often lose some of their sensory abilities. A combination of natural age-related physical changes and complications of common illnesses that affect the elderly can cause your senior loved one to develop vision, hearing, and other sensory limitations, raising their risks for accidents and injuries.

As a concerned caregiver, learn about the various kinds of sensory loss seniors can experience. Once you recognize the potential problems and their telltale symptoms, you can arrange for the proper in-home care to help optimize your senior's safety and quality of life. Watch out for the following four kinds of sensory challenges.

1. Vision Changes

Vision commonly grows worse with age for a variety of reasons. For instance, most middle-aged people develop a condition called presbyopia, which limits the eyes' ability to focus on close-up text or objects. Advanced age also raises the risks of eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration.

Different age-related vision problems can display different warning signs. Cataracts commonly reduce color and contrast perception. Glaucoma reduces peripheral vision, while macular degeneration interferes with central vision. Any of these issues can make driving, outdoor activities, or even home navigation treacherous.

Assistive devices can complement regular eye exams and corrective treatments to help seniors see as clearly as possible. Your in-home care advisor may recommend fluorescent tape to mark stair steps, night lights in strategic locations, and specialized magnifiers or lighting to make reading easier.

2. Hearing Loss

Millions of older individuals suffer from presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss. This condition can sneak up on seniors and caregivers alike as the affected person gradually starts raising the TV volume, asking others to repeat themselves in conversation, and failing to understand or respond to questions and instructions.

If you notice these symptoms in your senior loved one, schedule a professional hearing evaluation to determine whether hearing aids can prove helpful. If an underlying condition such as diabetes or hypertension contributes to senior hearing loss, an in-home nurse can make sure the senior takes any necessary medications.

3. Loss of Taste and Smell

The senses of taste and smell work together closely to help people enjoy their food and beverages. As the sense of smell naturally declines with age, a senior's ability to taste may also fade somewhat, causing them to lose interest in food, lose an unhealthy amount of weight, and neglect their nutrition.

A diminished sense of smell can prove not just depressing but also potentially dangerous. For instance, a senior who cannot smell a leaky gas pipe, spoiled food, or smoke from a house fire faces serious risks. If your senior's sense of smell has faded, consider asking a sitter to stay with the senior whenever you must leave the home.

You can take steps to help seniors appreciate the taste of their food and eat as they should. Sometimes, you need only add some extra seasonings to spice up the menu. Bear in mind, however, that an unexplained loss of smell or taste can indicate an underlying medical problem. If this worries you, schedule a medical evaluation.

4. Diminished Sense of Touch

As the body ages, its circulatory system may not work as well as it once did. The loss of blood flow to the skin can reduce the skin's ability to feel pain, pressure, heat, or cold. Age-related complaints such as diabetes that affect nerve function only worsen this problem, which can prevent seniors from recognizing injuries.

Regular exercise can go a long way toward preserving a senior's circulation. If your senior loved one can't go out to exercise, schedule home-based physical therapy to boost blood flow in a safe environment. If diabetes reduces touch sensitivity, make sure your loved ones receive the necessary medical treatment.

A Visiting Redi-Nurse can help you give your beloved senior the right mix of supervision, medical care, and non-medical assistance to ensure a happier and healthier life. Contact us today to tell us about your senior's sensory challenges and discuss our many services in detail.

5 Types of In-Home Care Worth Considering

Mon, 07 Feb 2022 14:56:06 GMT

When you take on the responsibility of caring for an ailing or elderly loved one, you may realize fairly quickly that this job often calls for more specialized skills (and more hours in the day) than you can provide on your own. Although in-home care agencies offer a variety of different services, you may find the sheer range of options confusing.

Once you understand more about the different categories of in-home care and what each of those categories includes, you can request the right level of care for your loved one with confidence. Take a look at five common types of in-home care to see which one makes the most sense for your current needs.

1. Companion Care

Not all individuals who benefit from in-home care require medical services or supervision. Your loved one may simply require some help taking care of various everyday tasks or feel deprived of human contact when you must spend time out of the home. In these cases, companion care can offer welcome assistance and support.

Companion care counts as non-medical in-home care, but that distinction doesn't make it any less valuable to those who need it. Trained, experienced companions can stop by the home periodically, on a pre-arranged schedule, to help with meal preparation, laundry, errand running, transportation, or light housekeeping.

2. Personal Care

In addition to other non-medical care, individuals who suffer from various disabilities may also need help performing tasks of a more personal nature. Personal care providers can fill this gap by helping with such important everyday tasks as performing dental hygiene chores, getting dressed or undressed, bathing, and shaving.

Personal care providers can prove especially valuable to people who struggle with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. Even if these individuals have the physical ability to perform personal care, they may forget or neglect these tasks without some welcome supervision and reminders.

3. Nursing Care

No matter how skillfully you can handle your loved one's everyday non-medical needs, you may not know how to provide the essential medical care that loved one also requires. Even if you can administer pills and apply topical medications easily enough, you may not know how to provide more complex kinds of treatment.

Loved ones with significant health challenges often benefit from skilled nursing care. These in-home providers put their medical training, experience, and certifications to good use by supervising daily medications (including injections), dressing and monitoring wounds, changing ostomy bags, and making medical recommendations.

4. Respite Care

In-home care can do more than just benefit your loved one who needs assistance - it can also benefit you. Full-time home caregivers must balance their work and family matters with the need to look after a loved one 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This burden can lead to emotional stress and health problems.

Respite care lives up to its name by giving you a much-needed break once in a while. In this form of care, you schedule a time for providers to come to your home for short periods of medical or non-medical care while you tackle other essential life or work responsibilities (or simply enjoy some healthy rest and recreation).

5. Therapeutic Care

If your loved one struggles with mobility problems, weakness, poor coordination, or loss of flexibility, consider scheduling some form of therapeutic in-home care. In this category of in-home care, specific types of therapists visit the home on a regular schedule to help loved ones preserve or improve their abilities.

Your in-home care agency may offer any combination of physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Physical therapy typically involves exercises that build muscle strength, balance, and mobility. Occupational therapy can improve manual skills necessary for daily living, while speech therapy can treat cognitive and communication challenges.

A Visiting Redi-Nurse can provide you and your loved one with the ideal combination of in-home care services, both now and in the future as your needs change. Contact us today at either of our locations to request a consultation.

Signs It's Time To Consider In-Home Care

Wed, 24 Nov 2021 14:23:11 GMT

Many elderly people want to live out their final years in their own homes, but they may need some assistance to do so safely. Additional care is

often overlooked until there is an emergency, but securing help before there is a problem can help your loved one stay active and independent

longer.

If you have an elderly family member or friend who struggles to keep up at home, now may be time to consider hiring a nurse, home health aide,

medical social worker, or sitter to help with their care plan.

Frequent Illness or Accidents

If you have an elderly family member who gets sick frequently, an in-home nurse or aide can help avoid an emergency by regularly checking in to

monitor their condition and help your loved one decide when it's appropriate to seek further medical attention.

A medical social worker or nurse case manager can help plan medical care across providers for people who have multiple providers or multiple

medical issues they need to manage.

The more accidents an elderly person has, the more risk there is for a serious accident that could lead to a severe injury. If your loved one

experiences frequent falls, bruises, or other injuries, part-time or full-time in-home care can help keep them safe.

Nutrition and Hygiene Issues

Proper nutrition and hygiene are important for elderly people, but they may have difficulty with these activities of daily living as they age. In-home

care can help with meal planning and preparation so your loved one gets enough calories and nutrients in their daily diet.

Elderly people can also be prone to dehydration. An in-home nurse can check your loved one's hydration levels and suggest ways to get more

water in their daily diets.

In-home caregivers can also help with hygiene-related tasks, which can be difficult for aging people who are trying to remain independent.

Home health aides can help with bathing, dressing, brushing hair, brushing teeth, trimming nails, and other basic hygiene procedures that your

family member may need assistance with.

Mobility and Transportation Difficulties

Some of the most common reasons elderly people need in-home assistance are mobility issues. If your loved one can't get around the house

easily, they may struggle with daily tasks like getting dressed, bringing in the mail, and cleaning.

Many home care providers offer therapy services so your loved one can have their mobility needs assessed by a physical or occupational

therapist. An in-home therapist can recommend mobility aids, such as walkers and wheelchairs, which will work best in your loved one's home.

If your loved one can no longer drive, it may be difficult for them to shop for necessities and get to appointments. In-home care services can help

set your loved one up with a medical social worker or other aide who can help arrange transportation.

Memory and Mental Health Problems

Elderly people who suffer from dementia, Alzheimer's, or other memory problems often need in-home care to stay in their own homes rather than

go to a care facility. In-home care takers can help set up medication and activity reminders, make sure your family member takes their

medications on time, and can help them remember all of their daily tasks.

Elderly people often experience depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems as they age, particularly if they live alone.

If your family member appears down, disengaged with social activities, or consistently stressed, it may be time to consider additional in-home help

to alleviate some of the everyday burdens and provide companionship.

A Visiting Redi-Nurse offers a variety of nursing and in-home caregiver services in the Lake Worth and Port St. Lucie, Florida areas. Contact us

today to set up an initial consultation to determine what services would be beneficial for your aging loved one.

Frequently Asked Questions About Sundowning

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 19:53:24 GMT

If you care for a senior loved one who struggles with dementia, you may notice an increase in that loved one's disorientation and other typical dementia symptoms late in the day. This phenomenon, commonly known as sundowning or sundowner's syndrome, affects many dementia patients.

The more clearly you understand the nature of sundowning, from its possible causes and symptoms to methods for coping with the problem, the more easily you can provide your senior loved one a higher quality of life during this challenging period. Take a look at some frequently asked questions about sundowning.

What Does Sundowning Involve?

Sundowning involves an increase in dementia symptoms that starts late in the afternoon and spills into the nighttime hours. A senior with dementia who experiences sundowning may seem especially forgetful, anxious, aggressive, confused, or inattentive to instructions during these hours of the day and evening.

This temporary worsening of dementia symptoms usually follows a predictable daily pattern. Sundowning usually begins in the middle or later stages of dementia's progression, with daily bouts of the problem occurring for months at a time.

Why Do Dementia Sufferers Experience Sundowning?

Medical science has yet to figure out exactly why many dementia sufferers experience sundowning. The most obvious cause would involve changes in the brain that interfere with the normal biological sleep-wake cycle. However, this disruption of the biological clock may only serve as one possible cause among many.

A variety of conditions and influences can trigger or aggravate sundowning. Examples include unusual fatigue, sleep problems, too much or too little illumination in the home, underlying mood disorders, physical pain, boredom, household noise, and certain medications.

How Can Household Habits and Practices Control Sundowning?

Changes to your senior loved one's daily household routine may help reduce sundowning. For example, you can encourage your senior to sit near a sunny window to reinforce a sense of day and night. If your senior naps during the day, try to keep those naps from turning into marathon sleep sessions.

Because stimulants and depressants can both affect sundowning for the worse, avoid serving coffee or alcoholic beverages to your senior loved one. While a certain amount of regular physical activity can prove helpful, leave plenty of quiet, restful time in the day as well. You don't want to overtire your loved one.

Keep in mind that loud noises can frighten, agitate, or otherwise overstimulate someone who struggles with sundowning. Avoid unnecessary household noises, and keep the TV volume at a reasonable level. Consider turning the TV off completely in the evenings.

Unfamiliar environments can promote sundowning. For this reason, surround your senior loved one with family photos and other familiar favorite objects when the senior must spend time in a new place. Instead of allowing your senior to wake up disoriented in total darkness, keep a night light in the bedroom.

What Medical Sundowning Treatment Options Should You Consider?

Your senior loved one's doctor may recommend medical treatment to help reduce or manage sundowning. First and foremost, the doctor will want to determine whether the symptoms actually indicate delirium. A head injury, stroke, urinary tract infection, head injury, heart condition, or blood sugar problem can cause delirium.

Once your doctor has eliminated other possible causes of the symptoms, your loved one may receive prescriptions for medications and supplements. Options may include drugs that support cognitive function, supplements such as melatonin to stabilize sleep patterns, and medications to treat mood disorders.

If you need help providing your sundowning senior with the right degree of medical or non-medical home care, contact A Visiting Redi Nurse. Our compassionate, skilled in-home nursing and caregiving staff can ease your burden during those challenging hours while ensuring the highest standard of care for your loved one.

Helpful Tips for Introducing In-Home Care to Seniors

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 22:46:02 GMT

Research reveals that 90% of American seniors prefer to age in the comfort and safety of their homes. In-home care offers an excellent way for elderly loved ones to stay at home while receiving the support, companionship, and personal assistance they need.

However, many seniors fail to acknowledge that they require help, and they might perceive home care as a waste of money and a threat to their privacy, independence, and freedom. Learn helpful tips to make in-home care more acceptable to seniors.

Hold an Open Conversation

The best way to introduce in-home care to an aging loved one is to have an open conversation with them about the transition. Explain why a home caregiver is needed and what the associated health and wellbeing benefits are, from getting things done the way they want to increasing their freedom and empowering them to lead a productive life.

Notably, tell your loved one that the caregiver will assist you, not them, with housekeeping chores. As a result, they can feel that they are not the sole reason for the caregiver and thus may become more receptive to the idea.

While this may be an emotionally charged conversation, ensure you and your loved one stay calm. Explain that in-home care is for the best and that their safety and independence is paramount.

Listen to Their Reasons for Objecting

Your loved one has their reasons for not wanting a caregiver, including fear of losing independence, a threat to privacy, safety concerns, and feeling like a burden to the family. It would be best to listen to these reasons and fears and address them.

Use the Help of an Authority Figure

Since most seniors respect their doctors, let them know if their doctor prescribed in-home care to improve their health and wellbeing. If that does not work, ask their doctor to talk to them about the subject. Authority figures such as respected family members, religious leaders, and grandchildren can also help convince seniors to accept home care.

Present Homecare as a Temporary Scenario

A good way to get your loved one to accept in-home care is to tell them if it is a temporary arrangement that will end once they feel better. A senior may be more fearful of home care as a long-term solution and find it intimidating. After they become familiar with the in-home caregiver, you'll be able to retain the service more easily if they still need it after a while.

Let the Senior Choose

When introducing in-home care, establishing trust is fundamental. You can do this by allowing the senior to choose an in-home caregiver based on the traits they would like. This choice can give your loved one more autonomy in the process, and they can feel their opinion matters.

Consider having a meet-and-greet session with the prospective in-home caregivers. The senior can interact with them and choose the best one. Also, your loved one can ask any questions about the service and communicate what they would like. The prospects can also explain how they intend to benefit the senior.

Start Gradually

Like with everything new, your loved one needs time to get accustomed to the idea of having a home care provider. Therefore, start the process slowly and make changes with time to foster the transition. Let the caregiver start by coming a couple of hours a week to perform less personal tasks, and then increase the hours and tasks as your loved one gets used to the person.

While in-home care is a sensitive topic that most seniors object to, the tips above can make your loved one more comfortable and accepting of the idea. Contact Redi-Nurse for genuine, heartfelt and professional in-home care. Our licensed nurses, therapists, and social workers offer excellent in-home care for your loved one, promoting dignity, respect, and wellbeing.

4 Ways to Help Seniors Eat Healthily

Fri, 28 May 2021 16:19:11 GMT

As people age, they often find that everyday wellness routines such as proper diet and nutrition become more difficult to maintain. These barriers can seem especially challenging if you care for a senior who suffers from physical or mental conditions that impair their ability to feed themselves in a regular, healthy manner.

You can help your elderly loved one stay well and enjoy a higher quality of life when you understand these challenges to healthy eating and take steps to safeguard against them. Take the following four tips to heart.

1. Keep the Right Foods on Hand

A balanced diet plays a critical role in human health no matter your age. However, seniors have special nutritional needs that stem from age-related physical changes. For example, older bodies typically lose muscle mass, promoting weakness and instability, while a less-effective digestive system can encourage constipation.

You can reduce these problems, or at least keep them from getting worse, by stocking the refrigerator and pantry with the right kinds of foods. Keep plenty of high-protein foods on hand, including such easy-to-eat favorites as cheese, yogurt, tuna, and peanut butter. Whole grains offer fiber for better digestive function.

2. Prepare Meals for Easy Consumption

All the healthy foods in the world won't do much good if your senior loved one has trouble consuming them. Infirmities such as arthritis, dementia, nerve damage, and poor vision can turn the simple act of eating or drinking into an impossible chore. Seniors may also find it impossible or undesirable to finish large meals.

To make mealtime easier, consider serving finger foods instead of dishes that require manipulation of a fork, knife, or spoon. Examples of such foods include fish sticks, chicken nuggets, chopped raw fruits or vegetables, and fruit smoothies or protein shakes. Serve multiple small daily meals instead of three enormous ones.

3. Arrange Treatment for Underlying Conditions

Some seniors would happily eat and drink their usual menu items if only they could manipulate tableware, chew, and digest their food without significant discomfort. Age-related conditions such as osteoarthritis can make any manual activity painful, while poorly-fitting dentures or gallbladder problems can interfere with digestion.

If your senior loved one wants to keep enjoying meals in a normal manner for as long as possible, find out exactly what kinds of pain prevent them from doing so. Have a doctor evaluate the condition in question and prescribe whatever medication, physical therapy, or other treatment measures might improve comfort and function.

4. Maintain a Consistent Food and Drink Routine

Seniors often lose some of the sensory triggers that normally spur eating and drinking. An elderly individual who fails to feel hungry may either skip or forget meals. Seniors who don't experience thirst the way younger people do may fail to hydrate regularly, placing their well-being at risk.

One simple way to remove this concern involves sticking to a regular, predictable meal and snack schedule. This approach ensures that seniors will eat what they should, when they should, even if they don't feel particularly hungry. Gentle reminders and an upbeat approach will help you persuade a non-hungry senior to eat.

To help your senior loved one stay hydrated, first find out what kinds of drinks they prefer, from hot coffee or tea to cold fruit juices or simple water. Keep those beverages readily available at all times. Remember that seniors can get some of the water they need from water-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, and soups.

If you would like additional tips on senior diet and nutrition, or if you need assistance in providing your senior loved one with healthy meals on a regular schedule, contact Redi-Nurse. Our skilled team can bring you peace of mind, ease your home care workload, and help your elderly family member thrive.

3 Common Needs for Seniors

Tue, 30 Mar 2021 15:38:18 GMT

As your loved one gets older, they may need more help than you can provide. If your loved one is getting older, and you worry about their well-being, keep reading three common needs for seniors.

1. Personal Care

When you're young, you may take the ease of personal care for granted. However, aging joints, dementia, limited mobility, and low vision can make it hard for your loved one to care for themselves. They may need help with cooking, cleaning, bathing, dressing, brushing teeth, applying lotion, and using the bathroom.

And one aspect of personal care that is often overlooked is being able to get around. In order for your loved one to care for themselves, they need to be able to visit the doctor, go grocery shopping, and pick up their prescriptions. However, many seniors may no longer be allowed to or feel comfortable driving, and public transportation can be overwhelming, especially if your loved one suffers from cognitive decline.

Depending on their needs and limitations, you may be able to help your loved one with tasks like buying groceries and cleaning their home. However, a professional may be a better choice for your mental health and the relationship between you and your loved one. Some seniors may simply need someone to visit during the day to help with a few chores, but others may need 24-hour care.

2. Physical Therapy

Many seniors struggle with limited mobility and reduced flexibility, which minimizes their ability to walk or participate in activities they used to enjoy. Not only can limited mobility cause pain but it can also cause depression, especially if your loved one used to be active.

For this reason, many seniors benefit from regular physical therapy as a good exercise program. Physical therapy may help them overcome a condition, such as forward neck position, or it may simply be a way to keep muscles strong.

While there are many forms of physical therapy, some of the best for seniors include:

Geriatric physical therapy , which helps restore and promote mobility, and it is often used for conditions like osteoarthritis or joint replacement.
Orthopedic physical therapy , which may be recommended after an orthopedic surgery.
Cardiopulmonary physical therapy , which focuses on strengthening breathing for patients with conditions like COPD.
Neurological physical therapy , which is about how the brain and body work together. It is common for seniors with neurological conditions like Alzheimer's' disease, ALS, and Parkinson's Disease. It may also be recommended if your loved one has suffered a brain injury.

3. Companionship

Some seniors do well on their own because they are capable of tasks like cooking, cleaning, and dressing. However, limited mobility and health issues aren't the only concern for seniors. Seniors notoriously struggle with loneliness and isolation. They may have lost most or all of their friends and family or their family may be too far away to visit often.

Regardless of the reason, isolation can lead to severe mood problems like depression, which is particularly dangerous for seniors. Even in young people, depression can wreak havoc on physical health, and since seniors are more likely to have underlying health issues, they may be more prone to depression-related health problems.

Luckily, you don't have to hire a nurse or caregiver to help with companionship. Many agencies offer adult sitters who provide companionship to your loved one. Keep in mind that they cannot provide hands-on personal care for your loved one.

As your loved one gets older, they may need more help, but that doesn't mean you have to send them to a nursing facility. Many companies provide nurses, caregivers, and sitters for in-home care. Whether your loved one needs companionship or full-time care, help available. If you would like to learn more, contact us at Redi-Nurse today.

Depression and Your Aging Loved One

Sat, 30 Jan 2021 17:13:29 GMT

Depression is a serious mental health concern, and it's incredibly common, especially among senior citizens. Many factors may combine to increase the risk of depression in your aging loved one. If you would like to learn more about depression, keep reading to learn how it affects your aging loved one and how to find help.

What Causes Depression in Seniors?

There are many causes of depression, regardless of your age, but seniors face special obstacles that may increase the risk of depression. For example, one leading cause of depression in general is traumatic life events. Naturally, older people are more likely to have experienced more traumatic life events, especially loss of loved ones like partners, parents, friends, and children.

Another leading cause of depression is loneliness, which many older Americans struggle with. Some seniors have a hard time getting out of the house to interact with people, they may have lost most of their friends/family members, or their depression may prevent them from doing activities they once loved.

Finally, many seniors struggle with limited mobility or certain health complications. Some of these underlying health complications can cause depression, but at the same time, limited mobility and health complications boost the risk of depression, especially if it makes it hard to do everyday tasks.

What Are the Symptoms of Depression in Seniors?

As everyone gets older, they change a little, but major negative changes can be symptoms of depression. For example, as your loved one ages, they may occasionally forget to take meds or feel like skipping a shower here or there. However, if their personal care significantly decreases, it can be a sign of depression.

Other more obvious signs of depression include changes in weight, memory problems, increased use of drugs/alcohol, lack of energy, and slowed movement/speech. However, many of the symptoms of depression are less noticeable, and you may only discover them upon talking with your loved one. These symptoms include sadness, feelings of hopelessness, fixation on death, loss of self-worth, and thoughts of suicide.

If left untreated, the symptoms of depression can devastate your loved one's mental and physical health, causing more conditions like dementia and the premature passing of your loved one.

What Are Treatments for Depression in Seniors?

Treating depression at any age can be complicated, may require multiple treatments, and can take time. The first step of treatment is to determine what is causing the depression because in some cases, changing medications, adding medications, or treating an underlying health condition may be enough to improve your loved one's mental health.

If the underlying condition is related to loneliness, there's an easy fix: make sure your loved one gets plenty of human interaction. Naturally, you can do this yourself, but not everyone lives near their loved one or has enough time, so an at-home caregiver or sitter can help.

If lifestyle changes don't help, or if the cause is due to imbalances of certain chemicals in the brain, medication may be necessary to help your loved one fight their depression. Finally, regardless of the cause, talk therapy can also help depressed seniors, especially if they are struggling to determine why they are depressed or how they can boost their mental health.

Depression can drastically damage your loved one's mental and physical health, especially when left ignored. In severe cases, depression can even cause advanced cognitive decline and reduced quality of life. One of the best ways to help your loved one fight depression is to ensure they aren't lonely, and at-home care is a great way to do just that. If you would like to learn more about in-home health care and sitters, contact us at Redi-Nurse today.

How Occupational Therapy Can Help Your Loved Ones Age

Mon, 30 Nov 2020 20:52:10 GMT

If you're helping a loved one as they grow old, you may be familiar with the different therapies and programs that can help them do so gracefully. Physical therapy and speech therapy are self-explanatory, but occupational therapy may give you pause. Today, let's take a look at what an occupational therapist (OT) does and how they can help you make life easier for the seniors in your life.

What Is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy as a field involves helping the patient gain or regain abilities to do specific tasks. Rather than focusing on exercising muscles or using specific stretches, the OT will help the person learn to live their life normally and accomplish tangible goals.

The scope of occupational therapy is vast, as any activities of daily living can disappear in an accident or illness. The OT will help determine what your loved ones will be able to regain and what they will have to learn to work around. If an ability is lost permanently, the therapist will be able to recommend adaptations to help their patients continue to live the life they want.

How Does an OT Help the Elderly?

Geriatric occupational therapy isn't necessarily about regaining lost abilities. Arthritis, diabetes symptoms, and other issues serve as a reminder that bodies age and won't get their youth back. Instead, an OT who specializes in geriatrics will help them retain their capabilities as long as they can and help them work around challenges as they occur.

Specifically, the OT will help your loved ones go about their everyday lives with autonomy as long as it is safe to do so. They may have to learn to do things differently, including dressing, bathing, and using the bathroom. The therapy will help them continue to function on their own or with limited help, rather than relying on others for tasks they find belittling or embarrassing.

Even when your elderly family members can no longer live independently, occupational therapy can still be a useful service. Having a medical professional that they trust can go a long way toward easing transitions that happen in this time of life, such as retirement or moving into an assisted care facility. Hiring a therapist they trust can give a sense of constancy in a time of change.

How Does an OT Help You Help Them?

You may find that as your parents, siblings, or other elderly loved ones continue to age, they become more set in their ways and unwilling to change aspects of their lives or behaviors, even when they are causing themselves harm. While the OT's primary task is to encourage independence, they can also help you have difficult conversations with their patients.

You may notice that your loved ones are losing weight unhealthily or that their homes are in constant disarray, but they turn a deaf ear if you bring it up. As part of their duties, an OT can hear your concerns and discuss them with the patient, suggesting nutritional plans or aids that can help them stay healthy or ways to keep the place clean without hurting themselves.

If the person in question is fiercely independent and doesn't want outside help to perform these tasks, the opinion of a medical professional can go a long way when a concerned relative's fears don't make an impact. The OT will find a way to work with their patient that helps everyone feel confident that they will be safe and well taken care of in their living situation.

Whether your elderly parents, siblings, or friends need an occasional therapist's visit or in-home medical care at irregular hours, a visiting Redi-Nurse may be the solution you need. Contact us today to see how Redi-Nurse can help you make your loved one's later years some of their best.

Navigating the New Normal? Howa Home Caregiver Can Help

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 12:35:29 GMT

How can in-home care help your aging loved one in this new normal period? If your parent, grandparent, or other family member wants to age in place, take a look at the top reasons to hire a home caregiver right now.

Skilled Nursing Service

Is your parent or grandparent cautious about going out in public? While you don't want to incite fear in your elderly loved one, you also don't want to put them at risk. Trips to the mall, window shopping, and many other out-of-the-home activities aren't necessary right now. But doctor's office and other related visits are important parts of the aging senior's healthcare routine.

Even though your loved one may still need to visit the doctor, a registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical nurse (LPN) can help with some of the other healthcare tasks at home. These may include:

Medication administration. An RN or LPN can't prescribe medication. But a home nurse can help the aging senior to take their daily pills and possibly even administer some types of injections or start IVs.
Monitor vital signs . Does the aging adult need a professional to take their blood pressure or monitor their respiratory rate? An at-home skilled nursing service provides this type of care - minus a trip out of the house to the doctor's office.
Wound care. The use of specialized dressings and techniques can reduce infection risks and help the aging senior to heal. A home care nurse can assess the senior's skin integrity and care for post-surgical wounds, injuries, or pressure sores.
Telemedicine assistance . Some doctor's offices prefer to use virtual appointments instead of in-person visits - especially for patients who are at a high infection risk. A home caregiver can assist the aging adult with technology use and make this type of appointment easy.
Lab services . Does your loved one need a blood draw? A visiting RN can provide this type of lab-related service in the home.

If your loved one needs these or other types of medical services at home, a visiting RN can help. This option means the senior can avoid time spent in medical center waiting rooms or interactions with people outside of the home.

Shopping Services

The medical center isn't the only place your loved one wants to avoid. They may also feel uncomfortable browsing supermarket shelves or walking through the local big box store. Higher-risk (for viral infection) seniors can avoid these out-of-the-house situations with help from a home caregiver. A professional home care service provides someone to:

Grocery shop . Proper nutrition is crucial to the aging adult's overall health. A home health care assistant or aide can grocery shop for your loved one. This service provides your loved one with the healthy food they need, without setting foot in a busy store.
Pick up prescriptions . A home caregiver can also pick up prescriptions and over the counter medications for the aging adult. Like grocery shopping, this service allows your loved one to stay home.
Buy cleaning and sanitation supplies . Even though the aging adult may not leave their home often, anyone who comes into the space or lives in the household can bring germs in. The caregiver can shop for home cleaning supplies, gloves, and other sanitation items.

Not only does a shopping service give your parent or grandparent the chance to stay home (and away from potential infection/exposure), but it can also help if they have mobility issues. Older adults who have difficulty walking, balancing, or using fine motor skills can benefit from this type of home care help.

Does your aging parent or grandparent need extra help to live independently at home? Contact Redi-Nurse for more information.

How to Help an Aging Senior Improve the Patient-Caregiver Relationship

Thu, 23 Jul 2020 21:04:47 GMT

How can you help the aging adult in your life navigate the patient-caregiver relationship? Even though your parent, grandparent, or other elderly loved one may enjoy the assistance and companionship of a homecare aide most of the time, every relationship has its bumps. Take a look at what you can do to facilitate a positive patient-caregiver relationship between the senior and their home health provider.

Work on Communication Skills

Communication is critical for a positive relationship. If communication issues cause problems in the patient-caregiver relationship, you can step in and help. The easiest ways to foster better communication between the senior and their home healthcare provider include:

Get to the root of the problem . Why is there a breakdown in communication? Does your loved one feel uncomfortable expressing themselves? Talk to your loved one and the caregiver separately about their concerns to better understand the cause of this issue.
Use easy-to-understand terms . Does the caregiver use medical jargon or terms that are unfamiliar to the senior? Does the senior phrase sentences or use words the caregiver doesn't understand? Make sure each person in this relationship can accurately understand the other.
Foster empathy . Each member of the relationship should feel empathy or understanding for the other.

Talk to your loved one and the caregiver separately and then bring them together to work on communication skills. Give each person in this relationship the chance to speak their mind, express their concerns, and feel acceptance.

Observe the Relationship

Do you only hear about the relationship issues between your loved one and their home health caregiver secondhand? If the senior and the caregiver provide you with conflicting information, you may need to:

Stay at the senior's home for the day . Offer to stay with the pair to observe. This can give you a better picture of the relationship.
Take a step back . If you do choose to observe the relationship, try not to intervene unless you need to. Step back and watch what happens between the pair. Wait until after you've carefully watched the interactions to provide an opinion.
Keep an open mind . While you may feel a sense of loyalty to your loved one, don't assume the caregiver is at fault. Keep an open mind as you observe the interactions. Your loved one may have a skewed view of the relationship, or the parties may not see eye-to-eye.

Before you observe the interactions, clear your plan with your family member. Provided you don't feel your loved one is in danger, you need to listen to and respect their wishes. If they don't want you to stay home or intervene, you'll need to take a different approach.

Ask Plenty of Questions

You've tried to facilitate communication and have observed the senior and the caregiver for a day. But the relationship still has bumps. Whether the bumps are major issues or minor differences, you still need to mend the relationship.

To help your loved one resolve relationship issues, ask them:

Do you feel comfortable with the caregiver? Some patients may not feel comfortable with their caregiver. This is a personal decision. If your loved one has a low sense of comfort, you may need to move on to a new home health aide.
Does the caregiver understand your expectations? Does your loved one tell the caregiver what they expect? Remind the senior to express themselves fully, ask questions, and provide the caregiver with the information they need to succeed.
Do you want a caregiver? Your loved one may believe they don't need a caregiver. If this is the problem, discuss the benefits of home healthcare.

While you could hire a new caregiver, unresolved issues could spill over into the next relationship. Failure to truly understand the problem could result in a repetitive caregiver cycle.

Does your elderly loved one need help in their home? Contact Redi-Nurse for more information.

Better Infection Control: Information to Share With Home Caregivers

Tue, 26 May 2020 20:14:31 GMT

Home health care enables people to receive medical attention in the comfort of their home, but it also means that the patient has much less supervision than they would in a hospital or nursing facility. Patients and their family members must communicate openly and honestly with visiting nurses.

The information the family supplies to home care service workers could be what enables the medical professionals to give adequate care.

Mention Potential Exposure

A family outing that led to an encounter with someone sick, or a visitor in the home with the flu or another contagious illness, may put the patient at risk. A home care nurse needs to know about these unexpected exposures as soon as possible. The information about potential exposure enables nurses to check for signs of an illness they may otherwise miss.

Do not underestimate the risk of exposing seniors to infectious diseases. Older adults may get sicker and take longer to recover. Immunizations do not protect seniors like they once did because seniors have weaker immune systems. A minor illness for someone in their 30s could severely affect someone in their 80s. An early diagnosis may improve treatment and outcome.

Discuss Unusual Symptoms

The signs of infection in seniors may not be what people expect. Elderly COVID-19 patients often suffered confusion, fatigue, and dizziness when first exposed to the virus instead of developing a cough and fever as experienced by younger patients. Even common infections could lead to easily misidentified unusual symptoms.

A common concern for elderly patients is a urinary tract infection (UTI). Younger adults may expect the infections to cause a frequent need to urinate and pain when relieving themselves. Seniors could experience behavioral changes, hallucinate, and show a reduction in their motor control skills, among other symptoms. Always mention any change in behavior or ability.

Mention Medication Problems

Elderly patients may refuse to take their prescribed antibiotics or want to stop their medication as soon as they start to feel better. Some patients may dislike the side effects of the drug, refuse to believe they need the medication, or simply not want to take one more pill. Not consuming an antibiotic as prescribed could allow an infection to worsen.

Sepsis, sometimes inaccurately referred to as blood poisoning, develops when an infection gets out of control in the body. The problem can occur in anyone with any infection, but the elderly account for 65 percent of all hospitalized cases. Sepsis can become permanently disabling or fatal quickly because the condition causes tissue damage throughout the body.

Discuss Caregiver Concerns

Successful infection control only happens if everyone involved takes proper precautions. Family members concerned about inappropriate care from a visiting caregiver should mention their concerns to the company or a supervising nurse as soon as possible. The home care aides may even have advice about how to correct the caregiving habits of other family caregivers.

Mention any concerns related to poor infection control behaviors. The problems may include inadequate hand washing or sanitizing, a failure to wear gloves when treating the patient, or arriving to work while visibly sick. Not cleaning wounds, being careless with food preparation, and not cleaning or replacing medical equipment as needed could also become a concern.

A lack of infection control can affect everyone treated by the caregivers and anyone they or their patients meet. Redi-Nurse wants nothing more than to have all our patients healthy and happy. Clients that understand the risks and talk openly with their caregivers will enable the service to provide better care. Contact us today to learn more about what we offer and how we can help you and your family.

Long Distance Care for Aging Loved Ones

Mon, 23 Mar 2020 19:46:01 GMT

If your family member requires in-home assistance and they don't have local family to rely on, learn what you need to know about long-distance caregiving.

If your family member requires in-home assistance and they don't have local family to rely on, take a look at what you need to know about long-distance caregiving.

Why Do You Need Caregiving Help?

Are you tempted to drive hours daily just to help your aging loved one? While this may seem like a simple solution to your caregiving dilemma, it can put a serious strain on your mental health, physical health, and wallet.

The top reasons you need help caring for your loved one in a long-distance situation include:

• Travel time. Do you have the time travel hours each way? Lengthy travel times can take a chunk out of your day, decreasing your availability to work, care for children, or commit to other daily activities.

• Stress. Full-time caregiving is stressful, especially if your loved one lives out of your immediate area. Additional help can provide peace of mind when you can't physically visit your family member.

• Physical strain. Not only does caregiving itself put a strain your body (lifting, moving, or helping your loved on to stand, walk, and sit), but the added travel time can add to potential discomfort.

• Physical distances. If you don't live within driving range, you can't reasonably fly back and forth or take trains. An out-of-state or cross-country r relative requires daily help from someone who isn't you.

Whether you can't manage a long daily commute or a drive is out of the question (or out of the state), you need to decide who should help you care for your aging loved one. This next step is crucial to the caregiving equation.

Where Can You Get Help?

There isn't one universal answer to this question. The person (or people) who help you to care for your long-distance loved one depends on several factors. These include:

• The health needs. How much or what kind of help does your family member need? Do they require minimal assistance or is more complex, memory, or other medical care necessary? If your loved one needs health-related care, a home health agency is an easy answer.

• The time needs. Does your loved one need 24-hour care? A home healthcare agency or aide can provide all day and night care.

• The other needs. Will your loved one need non-medical help, such as meal prep, house cleaning services, or assistance with grocery shopping?

Again, a home health care agency staff member can also provide these vital services.

While another family member or friend who lives nearby can provide some of these services, you may have doubts about their ability to fully care for your loved one. If you face any uncertainty about the quality of care your loved one will receive, a home health agency can provide the peace of mind you need while you're far away.

How Can You Hire Help?

Now that you've made the decision to hire a caregiver, you need to out your plan into action. If this is your first time hiring a caregiver (or hiring caregiver from a long distance away), consider:

• Do you need a care manager/social worker? If you need help to coordinate services or better understand community resources, a geriatric care manager or social worker can help.

• Does your loved one require medical treatment at home? Some home health workers can only provide basic services. If your family member requires medication administration or other similar services, talk to the home health care agency about these needs.

• What credentials do the service providers have? You want someone with experience and expertise to care for your loved one. Ask about credentials, licenses, and background checks.

A home health care agency takes the pressure off of you. Instead of wading through resumes and conducting your own background checks, the agency will help you to hire the just-right caregiver-even from a long distance.

Are you ready to hire caregiving help? Contact Redi-Nurse for more information.

Joint Replacement Recovery With At-Home Help

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 18:53:06 GMT

Primary total joint replacement surgery of the hip and knees is one of the most popular elective surgeries in America, and this trend is expected to continue as the population ages. Revision procedures, which are more complicated and take longer to heal, will rise as well.

As more and more people need a primary or revision total knee or hip joint replacement procedure, more people will also likely need assistance after surgery. For some, that may mean staying at a rehabilitation center, which many are reluctant to do.

The good news is studies show people who immediately return home after the procedure fared just as well or better as those who stayed in a rehabilitation center. Home health care services can provide most, if not all, the help you need during your knee or hip joint replacement recuperation period. Here are a few essential services to arrange prior to your procedure.

Skilled Nursing

After hip or knee joint replacement surgery, you can expect your hospital stay to only last about 1-4 days. If you are having an outpatient joint replacement procedure, you will go home the same day!

As long as your pain is under control and you are able to get in and out of bed, use a walker or other assistive device, use the toilet, eat, maneuver a few steps up and down the stairs, and understand your postoperative instructions, your physician will discharge you.

While the hospital and your insurance company may decide you are ready to go home, you may not feel anywhere near prepared to leave so soon, especially if you live alone. Also, people sensitive to anesthesia often take longer to feel normal again and may want additional help.

Registered nurses (RN) and licensed practical nurses (LPN) can provide skilled care, bridging the gap from hospital to home until you do feel more comfortable. In addition to monitoring your vital signs, nurses can perform wound care, regulate your medication, and educate family members on how to best care for you.

Skilled nurses can also communicate any complications to your doctor. For example, if your pain is not getting better or they suspect your wound may be becoming infected, they can alert your physician to a potential problem before it escalates.

Certified Nursing Assistants and Home Health Aides

Naturally, it takes a while for most knee or hip joint replacement recipients to feel steady on their feet again. A certified nursing assistant (CNA) or home health aide is good to have around in your early days of recovery to assist you with routine self-care activities.

CNAs and home health aides will support your daily hygiene needs such as bathing and grooming, using the toilet, and dressing. They can also assist with meal preparation and light housekeeping, such as doing the dishes after dinner.

Homemakers

It takes a bit to heal from surgery, and a total knee or hip joint replacement is no exception. It will probably be some time before you are ready to scrub your kitchen floor, carry a load of clothes up and down the stairs, or drive to the grocery store to pick some things up for dinner.

Employing a homemaker through a home health care service will ensure your home stays tidy, the laundry gets done, the garbage gets taken out, and you have the things you need while you recover. As you gradually feel better, you can begin assisting with the chores until you are able to take them over on your own.

Physical Therapy

The success of your total or revision hip or knee replacement surgery largely depends on doing your prescribed exercises. In-home physical therapy visits will ensure you are doing your exercises as you are supposed to and making satisfactory progress.

If you are having a hip or knee joint replacement procedure or any other type of surgery and will need help after you are discharged, contact Redi-Nurse today to discuss your home health care needs. Setting up services before your procedure will provide tremendous peace of mind and allow you to focus on getting well.

The Top Senior Sitter Questions Answered

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 19:33:21 GMT

What is a senior sitter? If your aging parent, grandparent, or loved one wants to live independently but needs extra help around their home, take a look at what you need to know about this professional service.

Are Senior Sitters Healthcare Professionals?

While healthcare-related service providers (such as home healthcare and visiting nurse companies/organizations) may employee these professionals, they are not licensed medical caregivers. The senior sitter isn't an R.N. (registered nurse), CNA (certified nursing assistant), or certified home health aide.

Can Senior Sitters Provide Healthcare Services?

As a non-licensed, non-medical employee, the senior sitter is not allowed to provide healthcare services. This means they can't administer medication, provide physical or occupational therapy, change wound dressings, offer medical advice, or engage in any other healthcare or medical type of activity.

What Services Do Senior Sitters Provide?

If the senior sitter can't provide healthcare services for your loved one, why hire this professional? Even though the aging senior in your life may need some healthcare-related services to live independently, they may also have other needs that a visiting nurse, occupational therapist, or physical therapist can't or won't offer.

The senior sitter is a paid companion. Socialization is a key part of the elderly adult's overall physical, mental, and emotional health. Research shows a connection between social ties and the biomarkers of health as well as mental health issues, such as depression, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institute on Aging.

The positive link between the senior's health (physical and mental) and social relationships makes a sitter service valuable for elderly adults who are isolated, don't have a family or friend caregiver 24/7, or just miss the company of others.

Along with socialization, the sitter can engage the senior in games or activities that boost cognitive skills. These could include card games, board games, crafts, or other similar activities.

Even though the sitter can't administer medications or provide medical services, they can alert you (or a medical provider) in the event of an emergency. If you're the primary caregiver, this allows you to take a break and leave your loved one under the watch of a responsible adult.

Will the Sitter Remind the Senior to Take Medications?

Individual states regulate which medical professionals can administer medications. Again, this won't include a senior sitter, as they aren't a licensed medical provider. If your loved one has memory issues or often forgets to take their doctor-prescribed medications, talk to the service provider about options.

Senior sitters can't monitor dosages, changes in medications, or time-related issues. The elderly adult may need to hire a visiting nurse or another licensed healthcare professional to ensure the correct and appropriate use of each medication.

Do Senior Sitters Offer Homemaking Services?

The answer to this question depends on the specific services the company you work with offers. Along with socialization, some senior sitters also provide light homemaking services, such as home cleaning (dusting and spot cleaning), laundry, meal preparation, or shopping. These services may come at an additional charge.

Before you ask a hired senior sitter to provide homemaking services, make sure these are included in their job description and pay. Talk to the sitter or homecare company about their policies and pay rates.

Can Senior Sitter Provide Help with Activities of Daily Life?

Does your loved one need help with dental care, hygiene, toileting, or bathing? While these may seem like simple services any homecare provider offers, these are typically not part of a senior sitter's job. These services fall under the medical or healthcare provider category and may require you/your loved one to hire a visiting nurse or CNA.

Does your loved one need a senior sitter? Contact RediNurse for more information.

How Can a Medical Social Worker Help You After a Hospital Stay?

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 04:17:10 GMT

Does your loved one need a medical social worker? Hospitals provide social work services to elderly patients who have post-stay needs. If you're not sure whether your parent or relative requires social work services, take a look at the benefits of working with one of these healthcare professionals.

Needs Assessment

What does your loved one need in terms of after-care when they leave the hospital? A medical social worker will screen an elderly patient, evaluate their present condition/diagnosis, and assess their future needs. Their needs may include anything from help around the house with everyday activities to dementia care.

Even though you may think you know what your elderly parent or loved one needs, a medical social worker has the expert-level knowledge and experience to truly understand the challenges that come with returning home. Their ability to proactively plan for your loved one's return and anticipate their care needs are benefits caregivers/family members should take advantage of.

Patient and Family Education

The medical terms doctors use aren't exactly family- or patient-friendly. While you may understand the basics of your loved one's medical condition, healthcare jargon can confuse anyone without a medical degree.

Medical social workers often serve as a bridge between other hospital staff and the patients or families. They can demystify and explain the patient's condition and healthcare needs in a more accessible way.

Beyond the ability to translate medical terminology into easy-to-understand terms, the social worker can also provide patients and their families with educational materials and other resources. This helps everyone involved better understand what a return home truly means and what aftercare will involve.

Community Resource Advice

Along with disease or condition management and patient healthcare education, a medical social worker can also provide caregivers with information on community and other related resources. These may include entitlement benefits (such as ways to pay for therapies or medical needs), meal home delivery services, or other services communities and care organizations offer.

Expert advice on which community services to use following a hospital stay can streamline the post-care transition. A social worker can eliminate the guesswork that's often involved in this process and make it easier for patients and families to connect with the help they need.

Home Healthcare Help

Will your loved one need home healthcare to live independently? If the hospital's medical and social work doesn't think skilled nursing care or rehab is necessary, your loved one is free to return home. But they may still need assistance with activities of daily life (feeding, bathing, shopping, and other similar tasks), mobility, or memory care.

The hospital-to-home transition comes with a set of challenges a social worker will understand. If you aren't sure how to help or get help for your loved one, a professional can take charge. This leaves you free to spend time with your parent/relative, get back to work, or resume your regular daily activities.

Not only will you get a break from caregiving, but a social worker can also help you to select the right home healthcare staff for your loved one's needs. Whether your parent/relative requires 24-7 nursing care, a daytime companion, physical therapy, or another type of assistance, a social worker can connect you with professional help.

A social worker can also coordinate care and communicate with homecare workers. This is an important step in the post-hospital care process-especially if you're not sure what or how much care your loved one needs.

Does your elderly parent or relative need home healthcare after a hospital stay? Contact us or have a medical social worker call us at A Visiting Redi Nurse for more information.

How Family Caregivers Benefit From Adult Sitter Services

Fri, 30 Aug 2019 03:02:42 GMT

Many senior caregivers don't work for professional services; rather they are the family members of the person that needs help. Often, family caregivers work without financial compensation, taking on the roll without realizing the sacrifices they will need to make as they care for their loved one.

Despite the rewards of the work, many caregivers struggle with the responsibility of taking care of someone full time. It's not always possible to find other family members to help with the tasks. Many caregivers have their own careers, family, and even health problems to manage as they care for someone else. The best solution for many is to hire the services of an adult sitter.

Request as Needed

Adult sitters supply non-medical services to their clients. A sitter helps with the housework, transports clients to appointments or activities, and acts as a companion to the individual in their care. The tasks vary based on what the client needs as well as the time of day they arrive. Overnight sitters are often only a backup in case of an emergency during the night, for example.

Protect Career Ambitions

Industry experts estimate that family caregivers dedicate about 20 hours per week on average to the task of caring for their loved one. The average family caregiver is more likely to be female and about 48 years old. Many of these individuals scale-back the time they spend at work, and some may need to quit a job they enjoy for a position with more flexible hours.

A study performed by MetLife discovered that women that care for their elderly loved ones give up promotions and opportunities. The researchers estimated that women sacrificed an average of about $324,000 in income and benefits, like pensions and Social Security earnings, due to their caregiver role.

Of course, it is not only women that offer care to their aging parents and other relatives. Men that take on these responsibilities lost approximately $284,000 in current earnings and future pensions.

Adult sitter services enable caregivers to refocus on their careers in the same way babysitters enable parents to work. Sitters keep seniors safe and happy while the family caregiver earns the income needed to contribute to their own home life.

Support Personal Health

Caregiver burnout exists, and it can strike even the most energetic and optimistic people. The emotional strain of watching a beloved family member grow frail and more dependent takes a toll. People become isolated as they lose touch with friends and scale back their social activities due to their busy schedules.

Caregivers often delay or give up on their goals to go back to school, to move, or to travel. Sometimes romantic relationships experience strain due to the exhaustion caregivers experience. Lifestyle changes can lead to depression or cause health-related concerns.

Signs of burnout include sleep disturbances, extreme fatigue and irritability, and muddled thinking. Caregivers may no longer have the energy for activities they once enjoyed, and some begin unhealthy habits like eating a poor diet or turn to drugs or alcohol for relief. Resentment towards their loved one, as well as other non-contributing family members, can occur.

A sitter can ensure that the caregiver never has to cancel a date or put off an appointment at a salon or with a doctor. Time off without any worry allows people to relax and rejuvenate. The caregiver returns happy and refreshed so they enjoy the time they spend with their loved one.

Families can use the services of sitters alone or along with the medical help they receive from a home health care provider. At A Visiting Redi Nurse , we offer medical and non-medical aid, so the client has the care they need and want. Contact us to learn more about how our professionals can help you.

Family Caregiver Tips: Infection Risks and Prevention for the Elderly

Tue, 02 Jul 2019 03:53:46 GMT

Home care has many benefits for the patient and their family members. Seniors have the company of the people they love and spend their days surrounded by familiar objects. The family can monitor the care of their loved one and have more time to spend with them.

Many family members take on the role of caregiver without any prior medical experience. The lack of training can cause some concerns. Infection control is one of the most serious issues everyone should learn about when they have an elderly family member convalescing at home.

Importance of Infection Control

Good infection control practices reduce hospitalizations and save lives. One-third of all deaths in people over the age of 65 is due to infectious diseases. Seniors have weaker immune systems due to their age and can become even more susceptible to infection when they are ill.

Types of Potential Infections

Skin infections, urinary tract infections (UTIs), and infectious diseases like influenza and pneumonia are the biggest risk factors for seniors. Even more worrisome is the risk of sepsis that can develop when other infections begin.

Sepsis is a life-threatening overreaction of the body to an infection, which develops quickly and causes extensive damage. About 65 percent of hospitalized sepsis cases are elderly patients, and about one-third of sepsis sufferers worldwide do not survive. The condition can restrict blood flow to the organs and lead to their failure.

Symptoms of Possible Infection

The signs of problems like pneumonia and skin infection are common enough for most people to identify easily. UTI infections in the elderly do not cause the symptoms people normally expect. In seniors, the symptoms are often behavioral changes rather than physical issues, and these changes can include agitation, hallucinations, and confusion among others.

Sepsis symptoms include a change in body temperature to either higher or lower than the normal readings. Warning signs include a fever of 101.3 degrees or higher and low temperatures of 95 degrees or below. Other sepsis symptoms include a rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing, and confusion or shaking.

Methods to Prevent Infections

Hand washing is still one of the best ways to reduce the spread of infectious diseases. Anyone with a cold or another communicable disease should wear a face mask and gloves when they care for an elderly loved one. Wash bedding often and keep items like thermometers and other medical supplies sterilized.

Clean and cover all cuts, scratches, or other lesions. Even minor wounds can become infected in someone with a weakened immune system. Some dementia patients may even pick at uncovered wounds. Check the blemishes daily and seek medical treatment if signs of infection, like redness or swelling, begin.

Regularly inspect their feet because they can also suffer from foot infections too. Diabetics have an even greater risk of this type of concern. Keep the feet clean and be cautious not to puncture the skin when trimming nails.

Vaccinations against infectious diseases can reduce the risk of illness. Insist on flu and pneumonia vaccinations as well as the shingles vaccine for anyone susceptible to the disease. Antiviral medications can help to reduce the severity of the flu and antibiotics can help with pneumonia recovery.

Get professional help with any medical care where mistakes could cause an infection. For example, caring for open wounds, catheter insertion, or cleaning around implanted ports. Ask a home health provider for help or guidance with the process.

Infections cause pain and risk, and that is exactly what loved ones want to prevent by having their family member at home. A control plan lowers the chance of infections. A Visiting Redi Nurse can also help. Our professional home caregivers have the experience and skills to keep your loved one safe and comfortable. Contact us for more information.

5. Assists in Infection Control

One of the hidden hazards for seniors or those living with disabilities is infection; it can debilitate and kill an otherwise healthy individual when left untreated.

Home health aides have been trained in infection control and infectious disease management. They are likely experienced at coping with MRSA, C-Diff, and other diseases that the elderly, house-bound, or hospitalized patients are prone to. They can not only help keep the patient healthy and infection-free, but also strive to keep the environment clean of pathogens that could cause problems.

6. Provides Social Interaction

Maybe the most important role of a home health provider is the social interaction and engagement that they provide to seniors. Since aides often work with the same seniors for months or years, they establish a relationship that can be therapeutic for the client. This proves particularly beneficial for seniors and shut-ins that have transportation hurdles and don't see others often.

Often, a medical social worker works in conjunction with home health aides and the entire treatment team. With the help of a home health aide, the medical social worker can help their clients overcome conditions and improve their quality of life in some instances.

There are numerous benefits to putting a support system in place for a senior that includes home health aides. To learn more, talk to the professionals at Redi-Nurse , and glean what aging in place looks like for your loved one.

Improve Quality of Life With Home Health Aide Visits

Thu, 02 May 2019 03:53:03 GMT

A home health aide, or Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), provides direct care to the clients served. These medical professionals work under a licensed nurse or therapist and are well-suited to seniors who are not ready for skilled nursing but need more than the services of a companion. Typically, home health clients are the elderly or individuals living with chronic disabilities or illnesses.

A home health aide can help improve a senior's quality of life in six ways.

1. Assists With ADLs

Part of living independently is tending to ADLs, or activities of daily living, like bathing, grooming, dressing, and using the bathroom. Home health aides are able to assist with these tasks, preserving the senior's autonomy in their own home or residential community.

In some instances, this may include using mobility equipment or aids, such as lifts or slings, when helping and transporting the senior.

2. Provides Light Housekeeping

Part of aging in place, or aging at home, is overseeing and tending to a home which includes some degree of housekeeping and laundry. A home health aide can assist with the daily tasks that make a difference in the resident's life, like taking out trash, cleaning the bathroom, or doing a load of wash. A tidy and clean environment is a healthier place to live.

3. Helps Prepare Meals

Some home health aide providers also assist with meal preparation, which can help the client overcome any hurdles to nutritious eating, like rides to the store or the ability to stand and cook.

The home health aide may also provide some food-prep, getting healthy options on-hand for the senior to simply heat and eat at mealtime.

Furthermore, many home health aides may offer companion care to run errands, like shop for groceries.

4. Gives Medication Reminders

While a home health aide has limited responsibility when it comes to patient medications, they do serve as a great way to encourage and remind clients about taking their medication.

The home health aide is also in the perfect position to share crucial information with the senior's providers about medication management, needs, or issues, serving as a go-between in many cases. The home health aide may observe and monitor the patient's response to med changes or side-effects.

5. Assists in Infection Control

6. Provides Social Interaction

Benefits of Companion Care for Adults With Non-Physical Special Needs

Wed, 06 Mar 2019 17:58:56 GMT

If you have an adult child who has developmental delays or a behavioral disorder, you can no longer rely on the public school system or other programs. Your child might be able to provide for some of their own needs, but they also might need help with day-to-day living.

Many families are not able to provide the daily companionship that some adults with developmental special needs require. Even if your adult child is mobile, they might need help with preparing meals, having social interactions, and earning an income.

To help meet these needs, you might consider hiring an adult sitter who has experience with nursing and companion home care. Here are some benefits to consider as you make this choice for or with your adult child.

Fostering More Independence

The goal of care for people with special needs is to help them develop the ability to live as independently as possible. Companion caregivers have nursing training or social work training to help your child make improvements.

For example, with a daily companion, your child might be able to live away from your home. They could have their own space and begin life as an adult with the help that a companion provides. Your child might even be able to get employment if they have high-functioning abilities and a companion to help them stick to a schedule and pack food for the day.

Living away from home gives adult children options to choose their own path or to make their own mistakes. Many people with disabilities possess the faculty to learn and make decisions based on what they want from life, but they still need some assistance from an aide.

Preventing Accidents and Self-Harm

Some individuals might experience periods of independence, but they also might have trouble with feeling overwhelmed. For example, someone with a sensory processing disorder might be able to work well with a schedule and a living space set up to make them comfortable.

However, changes to their space or invited chaos could trigger a reaction that requires exterior help. A nurse-trained companion can help to provide counseling, coping mechanisms, or even medication at the moment to work through times of difficulty that would normally lead to behavioral problems or troublesome accidents.

Providing Transportation

Part of living independently means being able to get where you need to go. You might worry that your adult child cannot live on their own because they aren't able to take the bus, drive a car, or ride a bike without help.

A companion service makes these modes of transportation possible. They can help a person with special needs get to the bus on time. If a car is needed, they might provide driving as part of their service. Ideally, a person might live in an area where many amenities can be reached in walking distance to help give your child as much independence as possible.

Helping With Medical Needs and Doctor Requirements

If you are not at home to give your child medications or vitamins or to prepare meals in a certain way because of intolerances, a nurse home assistant can help. You don't have to be consistently tied to your adult child's medical care, but you also can't leave medications in the hands of a person with special needs who may not understand them or be consistent in taking them.

Instead, you might opt to have a professional in place to disburse medications and help with mealtime, especially if you won't be there or if your child wants to try living alone.

For more information, contact us at Redi-Nurse at your convenience.

Aggression in Aging Parents: How Home Health Care Helps

Wed, 07 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT

When your normally kind and patient elderly parents become easily agitated, aggressive, and demanding, their behavior takes a toll on your relationship. Not only are you riddled with guilt over not having enough time to divide between your aging loved ones and your own family, you have to deal with negative changes in your parents' demeanor that drags you down emotionally and mentally.

Aggression among the elderly is common: usually related to losing control over one's own lifestyle or age-related medical issues like dementia, many families face the struggle of caring for their parents while undergoing physical and mental abuse from their charges.

Some people — especially caregivers whose parents were abusive while raising their children — suffer from depression as a result of taking on an aggressive parent later in life.

Luckily, home health care is of great assistance to situations like yours. Discover the ways a home health care program benefits your entire family when you're dealing with the decline of an aggressive loved one.

Gives You a Break

Whether you hire a home health nurse to care for your aging parents on the weekends so you get time to decompress or you select full-time care, home health care gives you a break from the daily struggle of trying to understand and manage the behaviors of your parents.

You need time to focus on your own needs, and in doing so, will be able to better care for — and be patient with — your parents when home health care is not around.

Teaches You How to Cope

Home health aides and nurses are specially trained to avoid and contend with physical and emotional conflict and are often able to diffuse a situation due to their understanding of where your parents' aggression is coming from. In turn, these practices are taught to you and your family so when you are around your parents, you can more easily deflect or avoid physical and emotional abuse.

Remember: your parents may be unable to control their behavior, or if they can, are unable to understand where their anger is coming from and lash out at you because they are comfortable around you.

Most often, your presence and care are not the reasons why your loved ones are aggressive towards you, but rather, the fact that they are unable to do the things they used to and have to receive care from others is cause for their increasing aggression.

Keeps Everyone Safe

When your relationship with your elderly parents becomes so brittle that you would rather neglect them than care for their well-being, it's time for professional help to step in and assist your family. This is particularly the case if your parents suffer from a medical condition like Alzheimer's, diabetes, or other condition that needs constant medical care.

Never leave your parents unattended, even if your loved ones are being difficult or unusually cruel. Call a doctor immediately to set an appointment for a mental evaluation and to begin the home health care process.

Home health aides are trained to keep environments safe for their charges and provide a variety of services. Therapy, companionship, light housekeeping, hygiene assistance, and medical care can all be provided by the same home health facility. Write down all concerns you have about your aging loved ones to give to your home health facility at your initial consultation.

Aggression in the elderly is not something you have to deal with on your own. Trust our trained and professional team at Redi-Nurse to care for your parents. We offer a full line of in-home care services to meet your family's needs. Meet with us today to discuss your care giving situation today.

The Role of Speech Therapy in Caregiving

Tue, 11 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Many individuals who receive caregiving services at home live with the effects of Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and strokes. These conditions and many others that often affect seniors regularly require speech therapy.

Speech therapy is not all about pronunciation, despite popular opinion. Therapists work with patients to address issues involving the voice, language, cognition, and swallowing. Therapists also often have experience with different medical conditions.

Are you unsure if a loved one needs speech therapy? Keep reading to learn more about speech therapy and the benefits it may offer your loved one.

Signs a Senior Needs Speech Therapy

Speech therapy may be necessary for many different situations. While some issues relate to physical health, others may be because of cognitive issues or mental health. If you notice these signs, you may need to consult with a caregiver to learn more about speech therapy services.

Individuals who struggle to respond to questions may need therapy. In fact, difficulty with any verbal expression is a sign that something else may be wrong. Seniors must be able to convey their needs in some way.

Speech therapy may help individuals who choke when they eat or drink. This condition is common with individuals who require caregiving, but you might find this condition scary to deal with. Professional help may take care of this issue.

Individuals living with certain medical conditions may benefit from speech therapy too. These conditions include multiple sclerosis, aphasia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and hearing loss. Therapists help with more than the physical aspects of speech. They also assist with cognition as it relates to speech.

Activities of Senior Speech Therapy

Speech therapy for activities includes improving the dexterity of the mouth. The therapist will lead motor exercises of the tongue, lips, and jaw to open the therapy session.

For some patients, the therapist will use familiar items, like photos, to lead discussion. For patients with dementia, a previous stroke, and Alzheimer's, these activities can create neural connections and facilitate cognition.

The therapist may also participate in board games and card games to improve mental conditioning associated with verbalizing ideas. For individuals dealing with the aftermath of a stroke, therapists may help them learn to associate words with pictures. Flashcards are a useful tool.

Individuals with communication deficits that tumors, stroke, and other cognitive impediments caused may benefit from learning to use communicative devices in therapy. Devices may become a more prominent part of your loved one's life, so training sessions will help them learn.

The therapist may help with singing and making sounds to make intonations when words do not come quickly to an individual's mind. Practicing this technique may allow for better communication with caregivers and family members.

Benefits of Speech Therapy for Seniors

Speech therapy is beneficial for individuals who need to improve with eating and swallowing. Individuals with dysphagia, a swallowing problem, will benefit from nutritional help, swallowing analysis, and education regarding swallowing techniques.

Speech therapy can also help with memory recall. The more often the patient must use their memory to recall ideas and words, the easier they may be able to communicate with others.

Ultimately, speech therapy can improve the quality of life of patients living with communication issues. Seniors must be able to describe their needs, especially if they face grave medical consequences.

Speech Therapy & Caregiving for Seniors

Speech therapy may be the best choice for your loved one, but you need to get in touch with a professional to receive a specific treatment plan.

Call Redi-Nurse to learn more about our caregiving services. We offer 40 years of experience with compassionate caregiving and health care. Our services are comprehensive and include speech therapy when our patient needs it.

At-Home Fall Risks and Your Elderly Loved One

Mon, 16 Jul 2018 00:00:00 GMT

The home is a safe haven for your elderly parent, grandparent, relative, or loved one. So instead of moving the senior in your life to a nursing facility, you may have chosen to help them stay where they are with quality homecare help.

Even though the home is, and should be, a safe environment, sometimes accidents happen. Of the risks that the elderly face, falls rank as number one. Three million older Americans seek treatment in an emergency room for fall-related injuries annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Falls in the home can result in injuries that range from minor bumps and bruises to serious hip fractures and concussions, the later resulting in more than 800,000 hospitalizations per year. While the statistics may seem staggering, proper prevention can dramatically reduce the risks and help to ensure that your loved one stays safe.

What do you need to know about elderly homecare and falls? Take a look at what you need to know about prevention.

Risk Assessment

What puts elderly adults at risk for falls? The top risk factors include having had previous falls, decreasing strength with age, gait or balance difficulty, side effects from medications, visual impairment, arthritis, and untreated pain. Other issues such as poor vision, chronic medical conditions (such as diabetes), and recovery from medical incidents (such as stroke) can also increase the chances of a fall in the home.

A home nurse, social worker, or other in-home medical care professional can assess the risk and create a plan to reduce the likelihood of a fall. The healthcare professional will take the senior's medical history, present conditions/challenges, and the home environment into consideration when selecting a strategy.

Don't assume that you know how to prevent your loved one from falling or how to assess the risk yourself. Keep in mind, a home care professional has expert knowledge of this risk.

Adaptive Equipment

Along with hiring a trained professional to help the elderly person with homecare, your loved one may also need adaptive equipment in the home to prevent falls. After identifying risks around the home, the healthcare professional can recommend adaptive or assistive devices that are specific to the senior's needs.

The most common assistive devices that can reduce the in-home fall risk include raised toilet seats; grab bars in bathrooms, showers, and potentially slippery areas; stair rails; raised beds and chairs; shower chairs; hand-held shower heads; and increased lighting.

Even though adaptive and assistive equipment can lower the chances of the senior falling, they need to use the devices in order to truly reduce injury risk. A responsible adult, such as yourself or a home healthcare professional, can observe the senior's daily activities and make sure that they are taking advantage of these potentially life-saving home additions.

Physical Activity

Strength, balance, and coordination problems can quickly become challenges for the aging adult — especially for seniors who have already fallen, have chronic physical conditions (such as arthritis), or are recovering from existing injuries.

A physical activity program can provide the regular exercise that an elderly adult needs to combat some of the issues surrounding falls. A professional-led routine daily or several times a week can help the senior to gradually build back some strength and learn how to better navigate the home environment physically.

Detailed Discussion

Is the elderly adult afraid of falling? If the senior has had a serious fall or is anxious that they might injure themselves, they may decrease activity out of fear. This can negatively impact their quality of life or reduce their physical abilities.

Talk to your loved one about their fall fears. If you're not sure what to ask or how to start a conversation, a homecare nurse or social worker can bridge this conversation. The professional knows what questions to ask and what to do with the answers.

Do you need help caring for a loved one at home? Contact Redi-Nurse for more information.

Caregiving Tips for Infection Control in Your Home

Thu, 17 May 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Caring for an elderly parent at home has its challenges. Medical problems that need nursing care add to the difficulty of home care. The risk of infection is higher if your parent has a catheter or a wound. Plus, problems like poor nutrition and dehydration make it easier for infections to take hold.

Nurses and other home health workers train in infection control procedures, and there are things you can do too. Here are some suggestions for infection control in your home.

Wash Your Hands Often

Washing your hands is the most important step you can take as a caregiver for infection control. Wash your hands under running water using liquid soap, and if that's not possible, rub your hands with sanitizer. Keep in mind you pick up germs every time you leave the house.

The shopping cart at the store, a bathroom faucet, and even a restaurant menu could harbor germs from a sick person who touched it before you. Wash your hands when you return home and before you prepare meals for your parent.

If your parent has an infection, wash your hands after changing the dressing or when you contact their bodily fluids. By washing your hands often during the day, you'll prevent germ transfer that might make your parent sick.

Protect Your Parent Against Colds and the Flu

Wear a mask near your parent when you have a cold or other respiratory infection so you don't cough or sneeze on them. Restrict visitors during flu outbreaks so they don't pass the flu on to your parent or bring germs in the house.

Young children often pass germs around at school, so keep them away when they have a cough or fever. Have your parent's flu shot given on time, if it's recommended by the doctor.

Maintain Your Parent's Skin

Home health aides might assist with your parent's daily hygiene, but you may still need to do partial care. Keep your parent's skin dry and clean. Apply moisturizer to prevent dryness and itching that might lead to scratching and infections.

If your parent is immobile, change their position frequently throughout the day. Staying in the same position leads to pressure sores on the skin and the risk of infections. Pressure sores can become serious, so you want to prevent them and have a nurse check them if they develop.

Good nutrition and proper hydration are also important for healthy skin and sore prevention. The visiting nurse helps monitor your parent's nutrition and may recommend foods and products that keep your parent healthy and hydrated.

Learn How to Treat Infections

Preventing infections is part of the daily care you provide your parent, but sometimes an infection will still develop. Your parent might even come home from the hospital with a wound infection. The home nurse will teach you how to care for your parent's infection so it heals and so it doesn't spread.

The skills you learn depend on your parent's condition and could include things like catheter care when your parent has a urinary infection or wound care to help a sore heal. You may learn to use special supplies such as gloves, masks, ointments, sterile dressings, and disposable cloths and towels.

Sterile supplies must be handled properly to prevent contaminating them with your hands and causing an infection. Fortunately, when your parent has home care, a nurse will explain everything you need to know and, in some cases, much of the infection care may be done for you.

Preventing an infection is an important goal for you as your parent's caregiver because it could keep your parent out of the hospital and prevent them from feeling sick. With the help of a home health team, you'll have the tools and skills necessary to care for your parent well.

If you take care of your elderly parent at home and you need help with medical care or just daily grooming, call Redi-Nurse and we'll evaluate your parent's needs to see how we can help.

8 Ways Your Elderly Parent May Benefit From In-Home Companion Care

Tue, 13 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMT

If you have an elderly parent who lives alone, then chances are they would benefit from some in-home companionship. When family members cannot always be there for their elderly parent, companion sitters and in-home care can be a beneficial service. Your loved one will receive assistance with daily activities, as well as personal companionship while maintaining their independence.

Here are eight ways your elderly parent may benefit from in-home companion care.

1. Receiving Medication Reminders

It is not uncommon for an elderly individual living alone to have difficulty remembering when to take daily medications. Missing a dose of an important medication may have serious consequences. One huge advantage of having an in-home companion caregiver is that they will keep a record of daily medication times and schedules.

These reminders can be extremely helpful, especially if the elderly individual has trouble with their memory. In particular, elderly dementia patients will greatly benefit.

2. Assistance With Personal Grooming and Bathing

If your elderly parent has difficulty with personal grooming tasks or bathing, the companion caregiver is there to assist them. Your parent's personal grooming needs will be met, and they will have reassurance knowing the caregiver is there to ensure their safety as well.

3. Having Meals Prepared

In-home companions often provide meal preparation for their clients. This service can be a beneficial, especially for a senior who neglects to eat properly due to physical issues or other limitations. The caregiver may keep a list of the client's favorite foods or foods that must be avoided. In addition, sharing meals together may be a possibility.

4. Getting Help With Light Housekeeping

Keeping the home tidy can be a chore for an elderly individual who has mobility issues or is temporarily bedridden. Some services of in-home companion care will also include doing light housekeeping chores, such as washing the dishes, dusting, making the bed, or doing the laundry. This can be a big help to your elderly loved one.

5. Having Errands Taken Care Of

Does your elderly parent find it difficult to get out and about to do weekly grocery shopping? If immobility is preventing your loved one from getting necessary grocery supplies, then a companion care service may be an effective solution.

Running errands is a common service provided. Besides the convenience of having someone do light grocery shopping, the caregiver can take the individual to the doctor's office or to another important appointment.

6. Receiving Assistance With Schedule Planning

If your elderly parent has trouble maintaining a schedule, then the companion care service can help with that, too. This may include social planning or appointment scheduling.

7. Gaining Emotional Support

Sometimes elderly individuals who live alone simply need a shoulder to lean on. Often times the individual would like to talk to someone who isn’t a family member or friend. Companion care professionals will provide an empathetic ear.

Having someone to talk to can benefit a senior living alone, the senior may need help making decisions, or seeing things from an outside perspective, an in-home caregiver can provide this help.

8. Having a Personal Companion

Having someone to enjoy activities with is another benefit. Whether it means simply hanging out to watch a favorite TV show together, playing a card game, or taking a walk, the companion caregiver can be of service. This may help the elderly person avoid loneliness and feelings of isolation. In many cases, the caregiver and client form a strong bond and friendship.

Contact our companion care providers for more information on the services that we provide. Make a list of your loved one's personal needs and issues, and give us a call with any inquiries.

4 Ways to Help Your Loved One With Dementia Get a Better Night's Sleep

Tue, 23 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

If your loved one suffers from dementia and they never seem to get a good nights sleep, then realize that sleep problems are very common among dementia sufferers. In fact, an estimated 25 to 50 percent of all dementia sufferers experience sleep problems. Medical professionals believe that some dementia sufferers experience disrupted sleep patterns due to changes in the brain that occur as dementia progresses that affect their circadian rhythms.

While you cannot control how your loved one's brain is changing over time, you can take steps to help them get a better night's sleep. Read on to learn four ways to help your loved one with dementia get a better night's sleep.

1. Rule Out Sleep Apnea

If you find and treat a medical cause of your loved one's sleep problem, you may be able to help your loved one get a better night's sleep while also improving their health. Professionals estimate that as many as 80 percent of all dementia sufferers who reside in long-term care facilities suffer from sleep apnea. This is a breathing disorder that causes a person to wake up as many as 30 times every hour gasping for breath while sleeping due to airway obstruction while sleeping.

To rule out sleep apnea in your loved one with dementia, have a sleep study performed on them.

2. Encourage Activity and Exposure to Bright Light Early in the Day

Both physical activity and exposure to bright early in the day have been proven to help people suffering from dementia get a better night's sleep. You can help your loved one obtain both light exposure and light activity by taking them for a walk in the morning or early afternoon. When your loved one obtains more physical activity during the day, their excess energy is released, and this can help keep them calmer at night. Early morning exposure to bright light can help reset their circadian rhythm.

If you live in an area of the country where it becomes too cold for your loved one to get outside on winter mornings, then consider having them use a light therapy device in the mornings to help reset their circadian rhythm and find fun indoor activities they can participate in on cold days.

3. Speak to Their Doctor About Any Medications That May Interfere with Sleep

If your loved one is taking several medications to help control their dementia symptoms, realize that some medications can affect sleep. If your loved one's sleep disruption began shortly after they started taking a new medication, then that is a clue that the medication may be to blame for their current sleep problems.

You may be surprised when a change in medication timing (such as taking it in the morning instead of the evening), a minor dose reduction, or a switch to a different medication in its class leads to your loved one sleeping much better at night.

4. Ensure You Perform Incontinence Care as Often as Needed

If your loved one is newly incontinent, then you may not know just how often they need incontinence care throughout the night. It is important to perform incontinence care at night to not only help your loved one sleep well (your loved one may not wake up immediately upon soiling their adult undergarment, but the discomfort may wake them up soon after but also to help ward off infections, such as skin and urinary tract infections.

As a general guideline, your loved one's adult undergarment should be checked and changed if needed about every three hours around-the-clock. To help avoid waking your loved one while checking them, turn on only a dim light in the room before checking for urine or stool. If you need to change your loved one, turn on just enough light to perform the task, then quickly turn off the light to help your loved one drift soundly back to sleep.

If you need help with after-hours care for your loved one with dementia who doesn't sleep well at night, reach out to A Visiting Redi Nurse to connect with a trusted in-home care provider .

7 Tips for Helping an Elderly Parent With Incontinence

Fri, 17 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Incontinence is quite common among the elderly. In fact, more than half of all seniors struggle with this condition. Whether it results from nerve damage or being overweight, incontinence can be an embarrassing condition to live with. If your elderly parent has incontinence, he or she may feel too ashamed to leave the house and be social with others.

Here are seven useful tips for helping an elderly parent with incontinence.

1. Set Up a Bathroom Schedule

If your parent struggles with incontinence, consider setting up a bathroom schedule for him or her. Begin by keeping a journal of when your parent typically has to go to the bathroom every day. When you find out what times your parent has to use the toilet, you can set a schedule so that he or she goes before it is too late.

For example, if your parent usually has to use the bathroom at 10 a.m. every day, have him or her head to the bathroom at least 10 minutes beforehand.

2. Consider Purchasing Adult Diapers

If your parent has limited mobility, he or she may have trouble getting to the bathroom all the time. This is when adult diapers come in handy. Before you go shopping for adult diapers, take your parent's hip and waist measurements to ensure you pick the right-sized diaper.

It is also important to consider absorbency when looking at adult diapers. If your parent, for example, empties his or her bladder in large amounts, buy a super absorbent brief.

3. Look Out for Triggers

Certain triggers might make your parent's urinary incontinence worse. For instance, soda should be cut out because it contains carbonation and caffeine, which can make incontinence worse. Have your parent stick to drinking water.

4. Make It Easier to Get to the Bathroom

To minimize accidents, you should make it as simple as possible for your parent to get to the bathroom. At home, remove clutter from the pathway to the bathroom so that your parent can get to the bathroom quickly without falling. Also, think about installing grab bars in the bathroom to make it easier for your parent to get on the toilet.

5. Discourage Smoking

If your parent is a smoker, you should try to persuade him or her to quit the habit. Smoking can cause coughing, which puts pressure on the bladder. Quitting smoking can improve your parent's incontinence issues and reduce his or her risk of various other health conditions.

6. Keep Your Parent Hydrated

If your parent is incontinent, you may think it is best for him or her to drink less fluids. However, this can actually worsen the problem. If your parent is dehydrated from not drinking enough water, his or her urine may become more concentrated, irritating the bladder. Have your parent drink a glass of water whenever he or she feels thirsty.

7. Encourage Kegel Exercises

No matter what has caused your parent's urinary incontinence, kegel exercises may help control the issue. Have your parent squeeze his or her pelvic floor muscles for 10 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds. Instruct him or her to do three or four sets of 10 contractions each day. Your parent can do these exercises just about anywhere, including in the car or at his or her desk.

Dealing with urinary incontinence can be difficult at times, but it does not have to take over your parent's life. If you help your parent make some lifestyle changes, he or she may improve his or her condition. If you want to learn more information about urinary incontinence, contact A Visiting Redi-Nurse.

3 Signs Your Elderly Parent Requires Full-Time Supervision

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Everyone ages, and avoiding this natural process is impossible. Unfortunately, this means that one or both of your parents may reach a point where they need constant care. This role reversal can be a physically, emotionally and financially overwhelming part of life, but proper education and planning can help you care for an elderly parent.

Whether they are physically disabled or suffering from dementia, your elderly parent may require full-time care that will be difficult for you to provide. With this guide and the help of professionals , you will learn the signs that your elderly parent needs full-time supervision to ensure they are safe and healthy.

You Are Exhausted and Stressed

Many people have a strong desire to provide their parent with care without outside help. This love and desire may cause you to leave your job and spend less time with your own family.
In fact, you may be surprised to learn that many people spend 20 hours a week caring for their loved one. In addition, 13 percent of family caregivers spend 40 hours or more per week caring for loved ones. This time and energy can affect you physically, emotionally and financially.
Missing time at work, juggling responsibilities at home and missing out on time with your spouse and children can wreak havoc on your life. You may begin having problems with your finances while your marriage and children suffer.

Although there is a cost associated with hiring a professional, doing so is often a worthwhile investment. You will not only be able to focus on your job, home and family but also feel less stress and worry because you’ll know that your elderly parent is taken care of.

Your Parent's Health Is at Risk

Most people are unable to be with their elderly parent each minute of the day. Thankfully, hiring a professional nurse will ensure your aging parent is supervised when you are not available.

About one in four Americans over the age of 65 fall each year. These falls may occur while the person is getting out of bed or bathing. In many cases, the falls will cause only bumps and bruises. However, some falls can be so severe that the elderly person may fracture a bone or suffer brain damage after hitting their head.

Hiring a professional is not something you should be ashamed about, and hiring professional help can protect your elderly parent.

our elderly parent is currently taking medications, a nurse will monitor their dosage while you are away. This not only ensures your parent takes their medication but also reduces the risk of overdose.

Hiring a professional can also help your parent complete simple everyday tasks when you are not available. Professionals can prepare meals, run errands, clean the home and provide your parent with companionship.

Your Parent's Home Is Not Equipped

If your or your parent's home are not equipped with mobility aids and safety equipment, you should consider hiring professional care for when you not available.

Chair lifts, raised toilet seats, safety bars in the bath and shower, and mobility walkers and scooters can help the elderly move around and complete tasks while still remaining independent.

Without these devices or the aid of a professional caregiver, your parent will be at risk of slips, falls and other injuries. Keep your elderly parent safe and independent by utilizing full-time caregivers, safety equipment and mobility aids.

Knowing when to ask for help is key to caring for a loved one. To learn more about professional care for your elderly parent, contact Redi- Nurse . We’ll be happy to discuss your family’s situation with you.

Aging Parents and Home Health Care: Four Ways You Can Help

Wed, 14 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMT

When parents begin to age, their adult children are often left with the responsibility of caring for their elderly parents. Sometimes considered a role reversal, this sudden change can put a lot of stress on families. Adult children may begin to feel incredibly stressed and guilty, and aging parents often feel helpless. While this is certainly a difficult time for many families, it doesn't have to be.

In-home caregivers can bridge that gap. These professionals can provide the healthcare services your aging parents need so that you and your parents can maintain a happy and healthy relationship. While you will not need to care for your parents as much when you have help, you will need to be involved.

If you have been thinking about hiring an in-home healthcare professional for your parents, keep these four tips in mind.

1. Visit Regularly

Even if you do not live in the same city as your parents, it is a good idea to visit them regularly. After all, regular visits will help you stay in touch and will also make it much easier for you to recognize when your parents need help from an outside source. While you do not need to visit daily, try to come as often as possible. After all, life is short, and you do not want to miss out on this opportunity.

If you do not live near your parents, try to check in with them regularly through other means. Phone calls, video chats, and even old-school letters are all good ways to keep in touch with your parents. If your parents are adequately tech-savvy, you could utilize email, chat clients, and text messaging to stay connected.

2. Keep Communication Lines Open

Open communication with your aging parents is key. By talking regularly about their health concerns, you'll be more informed. But more importantly, communicating will help you determine whether your parents have any specific wishes you should carry out if they become incapacitated. While you might not be completely comfortable talking about these issues, they are important.

If you do not want to pester your parents with a bunch of questions, don't worry. You can start small. Ask them what medications they are taking and how frequently they take them. Ask them how comfortable they are with their medical routine. Ask them whether they have any concerns about household work, other chores, or hygiene.

Once you have talked about these topics, move on to the tougher ones. Be gentle but firm when talking about medical wishes. Do your parents have a medical proxy? If so, who is it? If it isn't you, be sure you get the person’s contact information.

3. Know How Much Care Is Needed

In-home healthcare professionals can assist seniors with a wide variety of tasks, but in order to know which services the care provider you hire needs to provide, you need to know what your parents need. If you don't already know what they need help with, spend a few days with them.

While you are with your parents, pay close attention to things they have difficulty with. Additionally, take note of anything they ask for help with. This will give you good insight into what type of care your parents need. Depending on their ages and health levels, they may just need help with household cleaning and chores. Or they might need help with medical injections, medication schedules, or even bathing.

Once you know how much care your parents need, you can begin to look at hiring an in-home healthcare provider. Many providers offer a wide variety of services, ranging from companionship to 24/7 care. Depending on how much care your parents need, the professional caregiver can visit your parents and assist them daily or weekly.

4. Talk With Their Doctors

It can also be helpful to talk to your parents’ doctors. The doctors can give you even more insight to their health conditions. Plus, the doctors can help you and your parents’ come up with a healthcare plan that can be followed both inside and outside of the home.

Additionally, the doctor will likely be familiar with insurance policies. For example, in Florida, aging parents can often qualify for low-cost or even free in-home healthcare through Medicare or Medicaid. Both Medicaid and Medicare will often pay for in-home healthcare if a doctor says it is necessary. In-home healthcare may also be paid for if your parents require special tools (a cane, a wheelchair, and so forth) to walk or move.

While in-home healthcare providers can assist your parents with many tasks, they cannot replace you. So keep these tips in mind to ensure that both you and your parents are happy and healthy. If you would like more information about in-home healthcare for seniors, contact A Visiting Redi-Nurse today.