| 1. How
will we know if home nursing is suitable for us?
2. Will my doctor object
to us using your service?
3. Is your service
expensive?
4. Are your charges covered
by my insurance policies?
5. Why should we recuperate
at home as opposed to staying at the hospital?
6. Are your nurses trained?
7. Why you and not any
other home nursing service?
8. Do you provide training
to domestic helpers?
9
. Do you provide this
service only for patients discharged from specific
hospitals?
10. What is discharge
planning?
11. Is Nurses At Home
a for profit set-up?
12. Do you only look after
the aged?
13. Do you help fill
prescriptions?
14. When can your
nurses conduct house visits?
15. What is your area
of coverage at this time?
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The service will cater to a broad range of patients.
The first will be patients (or the people who care for
them) who opt for the service due to time constraints
and an aversion to spending large amounts of time getting
to and from hospitals, waiting in line for treatment
that can otherwise be delivered at home. The second
will be patients who have limited mobility and as a
matter of necessity, find home nursing a practical solution.
And then you have those that simply prefer convalescing
in the comfort of their own home. |
 |
Nurses At Home will only take on patients who are presently
under the care of a physician. A problem does not arise
as care protocols are designed in conjunction with the
doctors. The doctor is also involved in the information
loop through our post-visit reports. |
|
One of the items in our charter states our intention
to manage medical costs down. Independent studies
have shown that a full 40% of patients in hospital
beds at any one time do not need to be there. Many
of us choose to be there because it is a prerequisite
of our insurance policies. This inflates costs and
places an unnecessary strain on the country's medical
infrastructure, in turn creating a vicious cycle.
Insurance firms may raise premiums to mitigate escalating
costs and the government may need to build more hospitals
to cater to this artificially created need for facilities.
The burden of these expenses eventually ends up on
the backs of the taxpayer.
Our rates are designed with affordability
and the quality of the service delivered in mind.
The care we offer will be delivered by certified nurses
and costs may be higher when compared to a service
offered by a non-certified nursing aide. However,
if we compare the rates to costs associated with time
away from the office, loss in productivity (for carers
of patients) on top of any costs arising from in-patient
treatment you'll find that home nursing is a viable
alternative. |
|
Some policies available in the market do cover home
nursing services and those that do not have been known
to compensate policy holders when approached. Please
speak to your insurance agent for clarification. |
|
Research has shown that patients generally recover sooner
in the comfort of home, among familiar surroundings
and loved ones. That is why most of us are quite anxious
to return home as soon as possible. Some patients on
the other hand may be concerned about being away from
the hospital but should remember that their doctors
will only discharge patients when it is prudent to do
so. A point to note also, is that some hospitals do
not have the luxury of space or funding to properly
quarantine acute patients (some of whom suffer from
contagious diseases) from in-patients requiring care
for non-contagious illnesses. Hospital-borne disease
therefore becomes an issue. |
|
Yes, all Nurses At Home nurses are state registered
nurses who are re-certified each year to ensure that
the quality of care is consistently at the highest
levels. A point to note is that the relationship we
have with our technical partners (medical) ensures
that our nurses are equipped and trained in the use
of the latest treatment procedures and pharmaceutical
products. |
|
Nurses At Home provides a service that is meticulously
screened for quality. All processes, treatment and care
are subjected to audit by our technical partner (a
tertiary level specialist hospital; certified to both
ISO and to Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH)
standards). We are also modeled after best practices
from the biggest community nursing entities in Singapore,
Australia and the U.K. that have been at the forefront
of home nursing. |
|
Yes, we do provide training to families who are already
signed up with a package. This service is provided free
of charge to help domestic helpers or carers manage
costs by taking on some aspects of care provided by
our nurses. However, not all procedures handled by trained
nurses can be handed over. We would recommend using
our training service for carers and supporting the carers
with nurse visits. For clarity, carers/domestic helpers
can be taught about dietary requirements, some aspects
of physiotherapy and steps to prevent bed sores. Catheterization
and insertion of Rhyles tubes as examples, cannot be
handled by carers/domestic helpers. |
|
No, Nurses At Home services are not limited to
patients discharged from any one hospital. We are in
fact in discussions with a number of medical facilities
to make the coordination and delivery of this service
more efficient for patients. |
|
Discharge planning is a process that maps out the needs
of a patient post-hospitalization. It involves your
doctor and home nursing staff and may include a physiotherapist
and an occupational therapist. Many patients (and their
carers) today have very little idea as to the special
needs they may have upon returning home from the hospital.
The process helps to minimize disruption and hastens
the return to an individual's activities of daily living
(ADL). It also serves to reduce the chances of re-admission
to hospitals by assessing the home environment vis-à-vis
the patient's needs. |
|
Nurses At Home is best described as a social enterprise.
We believe that the company has to be a business entity
as a matter of necessity, meeting the needs of patients
in the best way possible with the means available to
us at this point. While we would like to offer community
nursing to a much broader base, our reach is limited.
We have however, begun discussions with the government
on ways and means to establish an outreach program that
will benefit those who do not have the means to handle
the fees. |
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Our range of services caters to all ages. |
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Yes, delivery of medication is possible but only with
a doctor's prescription. One of the aspects of the care
we provide at home is to monitor adherence to medication
plans to avoid re-admission to hospitals. Assessments
are regularly conducted to check a patient's cognitive
ability to take the right medication at the right amounts. |
|
Nurses At Home operating hours are 9.00am - 5.30pm Monday
to Friday, 9.00am-12.30pm on Saturday. We close on Sunday's
and public holidays. The company however will assess
individual needs on a case to case basis. |
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The service will cover the Klang Valley but will in
time expand to include the rest of the nation. |
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