Seniors and their families are often concerned about hospital readmissions, and with good reason. Seniors are more comfortable living in their homes and have less stress. Not only that, but being readmitted shortly after discharge doesn’t allow seniors to process their emotions or recover physically.
The good news is that adding skilled nursing to the senior’s support team helps ensure they stay out of the hospital and still get the care they need.
Senior Hospital Re-Admissions: Risks and Causes
A number of factors put seniors at higher risk for readmissions to the hospital, including:
Chronic Health Conditions: Heart disease, diabetes, and COPD are just a few of the chronic illnesses that many seniors face and need to be carefully managed. Any medication or care lapse can result in issues that need to be addressed in the hospital again.
Medication Errors: It might be confusing for seniors to manage several prescriptions after being discharged. Neglecting to take prescriptions or making mistakes in dosage or time might lead to a readmission to the hospital. Skilled nursing can manage these tasks, ensuring seniors stay on track with their medications.
Insufficient Follow-Up Care: To track progress and modify treatment, proper follow-up care is necessary. Seniors who don’t receive regular check-ins may encounter setbacks that could have been avoided with prompt assistance.
How Skilled Nursing Helps Seniors Avoid Re-Admissions
Beyond what has already been mentioned, skilled nursing can increase seniors ability to remain at home and out of the hospital by keeping an eye out for any indications of difficulties, evaluating the senior’s progress toward recovery, and carrying out the discharge plan as scheduled. Skilled nurses are also able to treat wounds and provide a variety of therapies, such as occupational, physical, and speech.
Additionally, for seniors who may have particular dietary requirements because of their medical conditions, proper nutrition is extremely important for their recuperation. Skilled nursing helps with meal planning, ensuring that it meets dietary standards, and watching for signs of malnutrition or dehydration.
Finally, skilled nursing can help prevent readmissions by offering family members and seniors additional resources and education. By providing tips and tricks for how to manage certain health conditions, spot warning signs, encourage participation in support groups, and more, seniors and their family members can feel more empowered and in control. This also helps everyone feel understood and lets them know they’re not alone in dealing with these issues.
Seniors’ freedom, wellbeing, and general health depend on preventing readmissions to hospitals. A key component of this process is the extensive, individualized care that skilled nurses provide, which targets the particular challenges that seniors encounter when they leave the hospital.
Skilled nursing also offers the resources and knowledge required to guarantee seniors recover safely at home, from medication administration and chronic disease monitoring to emotional support and rehabilitation. Understanding these things, it’s easy to see that this valuable part of home care not only enhances seniors’ quality of life but also reduces the emotional strain on their families. All in all, family members, seniors, and home care working as one are the keys to decreasing hospital readmissions.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Skilled Nursing in Tualatin, OR, please contact the caring staff at Integrity In-Home Care. Call today at (503) 660-3755.
Sources:
https://resources.amedisys.com/reducing-hospital-readmissions-with-home-health-care
https://resources.amedisys.com/benefits-home-health-care#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20primary%20benefits,home%20as%20long%20as%20possible.
https://www.oasissenioradvisors.com/2022/03/31/how-do-you-keep-your-loved-one-from-returning-to-the-hospital/
https://www.hebrewseniorlife.org/blog/three-ways-home-care-can-help-seniors-avoid-hospital-readmission
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbevis/2019/07/26/4-ways-to-keep-aging-family-members-on-the-mend-and-out-of-the-hospital/