They have little control over their work environment, which can contain a range of safety and health risks. These hazards include bloodborne pathogens and biological hazards, sensitivity to latex, ergonomic hazards associated with lifting patients, violence, hostile animals, and unsanitary and dangerous conditions. Compared to intensive care nurses, intensive care nurses face unique safety threats, such as unsanitary conditions in homes, dangerous pets, firearms in the home, hostile patients or family members, neighborhoods with high crime, and car accidents when traveling between patients. However, Home Care in Kanab UT nurses face additional safety concerns due to the nature of their work in private residences. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore the specific environmental and personal safety concerns faced by home care nurses. Seventy-five home care and home hospice nurses completed an anonymous Qualtrics survey.
Seventy-eight percent admitted feeling unsafe during a home visit. Security threats included unsafe neighborhoods, aggressive dogs, aggressive or drug-seeking family members, patients with mental health problems, sexual harassment and, most alarmingly, feeling threatened by a firearm. The participants also identified environmental problems, such as second-hand smoke and bed bugs, and a high number of musculoskeletal injuries that, in their opinion, were related to their work as home caregivers. Home care is a rapidly growing industry with a critical need to attract and retain workers.
Safety training specific to the role of workers must be offered at the time of hiring and, thereafter, once a year. Home care nurses must be aware of security threats and employ preparedness, awareness, alertness and prevention strategies before and during visits. Labor Office statistics show that home care workers suffer more than twice the national rate of workplace injuries across all sectors. In addition, studies have shown that between 5% and 61% of home care workers have experienced some form of violence in the workplace.
In the United States, home care workers are more susceptible to verbal abuse and assault, threats, and sexual harassment. Over a 3-year period in the United Kingdom, 1,544 assaults (including sexual assault, hostage-taking, headbutting, biting, strangling, and the use of weapons) occurred against health workers who were alone. In Australia, a survey was conducted of 300 doctors who made home visits using an electronic form that evaluated their experiences over a period of year. The findings showed that nearly one out of every two doctors experienced assault; verbal aggression was the most common.
Home nursing can take you to homes with unsafe conditions, such as poor sanitation or structural hazards. In these situations, it's critical that you discuss your concerns with your supervisor. Protocols may exist to report and treat these environments without violating patients' rights. A study found that 88% of the violence suffered by hospital workers was not documented in the formal reporting system. Among nurses who perform home visits, the rate of violence between patients and nurses is largely unknown.
According to a meta-analysis I conducted with several colleagues, approximately half of the professionals who carry out home visits, most of whom are nurses, experience verbal abuse every year and 15% suffer physical abuse. However, it is likely that the real figure be older. In addition, home health care environments may lack clean surfaces for placing supplies, adequate lighting, work space, lifting equipment, specific height-adjustable furniture to reduce injuries to staff and patients, technology, regulation of the design and planning of home health care environments, and support services to help with specific tasks, such as cleaning and preparing meals. Home health workers, unlike healthcare providers in health facilities, must be aware of a variety of safety risks that are unique to the private home environment.
Participants were more likely to report that they worked as home health aides than as personal assistants, and nearly 15 percent reported that they did both jobs. Keep all medical equipment, supplies and personal items locked in the trunk of your vehicle and remove only what you need at each visit. Working in the home environment is not the same as working in the built environment of a healthcare organization. The mismanagement of medical waste can also be a cause for concern in the home care environment, as they can be a source of pathogenic microbes.
Create a professional presence, which should be reflected in your clothes, and demonstrate an affectionate and concerned attitude toward your work. A high school diploma is usually not required to work as a home health assistant or personal assistant. HHCWs can be hired directly by the client or they can work for a home health agency and assign them to specific homes. Finally, a topic of special concern in home care, especially urban home care, is the issue of crime and violence. In the patient room of a healthcare organization, for example, there is a height-adjustable bed and table, and institutions have invested in accessible patient assistance devices to reduce ergonomic stress on workers.
Mendes recommends that healthcare organizations implement measures that support staff preparation for violent situations. While these notes serve that purpose, they don't help home health agencies address the problem or protect their nurses. Home health care is the fastest-growing sector in the healthcare industry, with a projected growth of 66 percent over the next 10 years.
