Home care is a wonderful, convenient way for you to provide care for your aging or ill loved ones while you continue with your work and other responsibilities. This is an important decision that will have a major impact on your family’s life and the quality of life for your aging parent.

People are living longer and longer these days, so it becomes necessary to make arrangements to provide the best care for our loved ones during their golden days. Working with a home care agency is a good first step in selecting the care for your loved ones. Home care agencies take the time to find the best staff people. They do background investigations and interview prospective employees extensively because they know that they will be sending these people to private homes to care for vulnerable people.

So, selecting the right  home care starts with selecting the right home health agency. You should be aware that there is a whole range of these kinds of agencies out there, so it’s important to be informed at the outset to help you make the right choice.

Let’s take a look at some of the differences between the broad range of home health care agencies out there where you can hire home health care providers to come into your home and care for your ill or aging loved ones:

Licensed Agency
-Certified by the Department of Public Health
-Provides Worker’s Compensation for their employees
-Hold liability insurance
-Care is supervised by a Director of Nursing 24/7
-Follows guidelines established in Title 22 of Medical Care Policies and Procedures
-Direct communication between supervising physicians and the skilled nursing staff

Home Care Agency
-Not certified by DPH
-May not dispense Meds, handle injuries or administer IV therapy
-No RN visits
-Does not necessarily abide by Title 22 Guidelines
-No guarantee of communication between supervising physicians and the skilled nursing staff

Certified Agency (Certified by the American Board of Home Care)
-Not certified by DHS
-No RN visits
-Does not necessarily abide by Title 22 Guidelines
-No guarantee of communication between supervising physicians and the skilled nursing staff

From these basic criteria it is clear that you should consider working with a licensed agency if your loved one will need medical attention. Which leads to another consideration when choosing in home care and that is thinking through the level of care that the client is going to require. If your aging parent is growing weak and is unable to handle personal hygiene, requires assistance getting into and out of the bed and bath, or needs some companionship and supervision, their needs will differ from an elderly individual who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, or a chronic heart condition that needs monitoring.

When you are working with a licensed in home health care agency they have the experience and the knowledge to help you to select the right care for your loved ones. Home health care providers can handle all of the needs of your loved ones from meal preparation, light housekeeping tasks and local transportation to continuity of care between the hospital and home, case management by an RN and comprehensive end-of-life care.

Linnea Goodrich is the owner of Firstat Nursing Services which is the only Homecare agency in San Diego that is both state licensed and certified by the Alzheimer’s Association.  Firstat Nursing Services has been providing a higher standard of home nursing,  home health and in home care for elderly, disabled and injured people in the greater San Diego area since 1997.  To pick up a copy of her free report “Critical Questions You Must Ask Before You Hire a Home Care Provider,” go to http://FirstatofSanDiego.com.

Home nursing care as an alternative to moving into a nursing home for the elderly is often the preferred option. When people have spent a lifetime in their homes and they have established routines and feel comfortable there, they most likely would like to spend their golden years at home where they have so many memories.

But when advancing age brings illness and limited mobility, aging parents need help and support. Home nursing care is a good first step to consider when your goal is to keep mom and dad at home where they feel happiest and the safest.

There are a whole host of issues that must be considered when your parents have reached an age where it’s clear that they need help taking care of themselves at home. People need to feel independent, comfortable and safe. If the children of aging parents are not able to provide what their parents need, then it’s time to consider what kind of help to bring in.

There are several degrees of home health care providers available depending on what your aging parents need.

Certified Nurse’s Aid/Home Health Aides:
CNA’s receive medical training, and they are able to assist clients by taking temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, or blood pressure.

They can prepare meals, remind the client to take their medication, do light housekeeping and laundry, change linens, shop for groceries, run errands, read to the client, provide assistance with pets, etc.

CNA’s can also observe and track the client’s physical, mental and emotional state and report on any adverse changes.

Licensed Practical Nurse/Licensed Vocational Nurse:
LPNs and LVNs receive extensive training in a two year practical nursing education program after which they become licensed. They can monitor vital signs, apply and change dressings, treat and prevent bedsores in bedridden patients, maintain medical documents, drawing blood, managing medical equipment, administering medications and handling IVs in certain instances.

Registered Nurse: 
The RN is trained extensively and is licensed. The main difference between a registered nurse (RN) and an LPN/LVN is their ability to assess the patient and write a plan of care.  Their duties might include such tasks as giving injections, maintaining medical files, communicating with doctors on behalf of patients, managing CNAs and LPNs/LVNs.

The costs for in home health care for the elderly depend on whether you need companion care, home health aides or the services of an LPN or RN.  According to the American Elder Care Research Organization, the average cost to stay in a US nursing home for one year is $76,680, so if your aging parents do not have medical needs it is definitely more cost-effective to keep them in their homes and hire private home nursing care.

Firstat Nursing Services which is the only Homecare agency in San Diego that is both state licensed and certified by the Alzheimer’s Association.  Firstat Nursing Services has been providing a higher standard of home nursing, home health and homecare for elderly, disabled and injured people in the greater San Diego area since 1997.  Pick up a copy of the Free Report “Critical Questions You Must Ask Before You Hire a Home Care Provider,” go to http://FirstatofSanDiego.com.