Function

• In-home nurses fulfill nursing duties required by the patient in the comfort of the his own home. They can also provide care at other non-hospital settings, such as nursing homes or senior citizen residences. Their duties include assistance with wound dressing, tube feeding, catheters and ventilators. In-home nurses also draw blood for tests, administer shots and IVs and provide a host of other duties as needed by the patient. These nurses will usually be the ones who coordinate care between the patient and doctor or other health care professional.
  
  

Types

• Strictly nursing duties should be fulfilled by registered nurses, but other in-home assistants can provide other care. Certified nursing assistants require certification but do not need to be a registered nurse, and can help patients with daily tasks that are not necessarily medical in nature. These include bathing, using the toilet, blood pressure and blood sugar checks, personal care and help with newborns.
  
  

Misconceptions

• In-home nurses may perform a lot of duties, but they are not the ones who will be cooking meals, shopping, helping to keep appointments or providing companionship. These duties fall into the realm of the certified nursing assistant, if he is willing, or can be delegated to yet another in-home assistant. Personal assistants, homemakers or other sitter-type services are available from many in-home health agencies.
  
  

Considerations

• A flexible schedule, willingness to travel and ability to visit a number of patients each day is necessary for in-home nurses. Some patients may require long bouts of daily care, while others need brief visits only once a week or less. In-home nurses often treat elderly patients who may be homebound or unwilling to trek to the doctor for services, but they also call upon those with disabilities or who are recovering from injuries, surgery or an illness. A contract with a patient may last for several days or even several years, depending on the care needed. Many in-home nurses work for some type of agency or medical company but others are fully self-employed.
  
  

Warning

• One of the biggest problems for in-home nurses is getting saddled with a variety of duties that do not fall under their responsibility. Before beginning a program with any client, it should be made perfectly clear that the tasks include medical assistance only.
  
  Another hazard is some of the work conditions. Some homes may be filthy, infested with vermin or all-over disgusting. As a professional, it is the in-home nurse's duty to report these conditions to her supervisor as they pose a health hazard to the client. Helping to arrange a clean-up crew may not be officially part of the in-home nurse's duties, but this is one time such an extension of duties may be overlooked.