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RESUMEN Introducción: la atención al enfermo es llevada a cabo por una secuencia específica de la familia, por lo que esta es considerada un cuidador principal. Objetivo: describir las características sociodemográficas en cuidadores principales de pacientes operados de cáncer de cerebro. Materiales y métodos : se realizó un estudio descriptivo, retrospectivo, en un universo de 128 cuidadores principales de pacientes operados de cáncer de cerebro en el Hospital Universitario Clínico Quirúrgico Comandante Faustino Pérez Hernández, de Matanzas, entre 2016 y 2018. Criterio de inclusión: cuidadores que residían en la provincia y aceptación del consentimiento informado. Se excluyeron familiares de pacientes que fallecieron durante la investigación. Se aplicaron cuestionarios y entrevistas para caracterizar los resultados. Los mismos se analizaron en frecuencias absolutas, relativas, porcentual, en paquete estadístico de SPSS versión 20.0 en Windows. Resultados : predominó el sexo femenino (79,68 %). El 100 % de los cuidadores principales residían en casa del enfermo. Prevaleció el nivel de escolaridad de técnico medio (35,93 %); 88,28 % de los cuidadores mantenían vínculo laboral, y 41,40 % eran hermanas de los enfermos. Dentro de las necesidades de aprendizaje del cuidador, el déficit de conocimientos sobre la enfermedad constituyó el 73,43 %. Conclusiones: imperó el género femenino en los cuidadores con vínculo laboral, y con mayor incidencia las hermanas. Se evidenció la complejidad del cuidado en el hogar de los pacientes con secuelas, minusvalía progresiva producidas por la enfermedad, y que generalmente la mujer asume con más facilidad (AU).

ABSTRACT Introduction: the care of the patient is carried out by a specific sequence of the family, catalogued as a main caregiver. Objective: to describe the socio-demographic characteristics in main caregivers of patients who underwent a brain cancer surgery. Materials and methods: a retrospective, descriptive study was carried out in a universe of 128 main caregivers of patients who underwent brain cancer surgery in the University Hospital Faustino Perez Hernandez, of Matanzas, from 2016 until 2018. Inclusion criteria: caregivers living in the province of Matanzas and giving the informed consent. The relatives of patients who died during the research were excluded. Interviews were made and questionnaires applied to characterize the results. They were analyzed in absolute, relative, and percentage frequencies in statistical packet Windows SPSS, 20.0. Results: female sex predominated (79.68%). 100% of main caregivers lived in the house of the patient. The technician scholarship predominated (35.93%); 88.28% of the caregivers kept their employment bonds, and 41.40% were patients' sisters. The deficit of knowledge on the disease was 73.43% of the caregiver learning necessities. Conclusions: female genre prevailed in caregivers with employment bonds, with higher incidence of sisters. It was evidenced the complexity of home care of the patients with sequels, progressive disabilities caused by the disease, generally assumed more easily by women (AU).

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Infection control is the responsibility of all nurses, but, traditionally, it has been seen as a priority only in hospitals. Infection control does not stop when a patient is discharged home, but should be practiced wherever clinical care takes place. Community nurses face a unique challenge as they work in patients' homes, and they must manage infection control in that unique environment. This article looks at practical ways to maintain infection control in patients' homes. It covers hand hygiene and personal protective equipment (PPE), including the five moments of hand hygiene, appropriate hand hygiene, the use of all PPE and when gloves are required and when they are not. It also discusses managing clinical equipment, both that taken into the home and that left with a patient, including decontamination, safe storage of sharps and waste management. It touches upon what can be done in a patient's home to reduce the risk of contamination, as well as infectious disease management, including specimens and wound infection management. Lastly, it talks about cross-infection and why staff health is also important.

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Homecare nurses play a unique role in providing care during the follow-up after hospital discharge and in preventing readmission. The aim of this study was to explore the key challenges faced by homecare nurses in relation to caring for discharged patients. Data were collected through five focus group interviews with 29 Danish homecare nurses and subjected to inductive content analyses. The key challenges faced by homecare nurses fell into three themes: struggling to see the bigger picture, caring for patients from a distance, and compromising on professionalism. The findings demonstrated a paradox between the need for information and the struggle to access this information due to complicated infrastructures of information-sharing. Homecare nurses took on a substantial responsibility in providing the best possible care despite having limited information. Ironically, by taking on this responsibility, they implicitly contribute to covering up the problems of organisational and professional information flow.

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BACKGROUND: Managing individuals with chronic health conditions in the primary care setting continues to be a significant challenge in the US health care system. This issue is further compounded for low-income individuals with both mental health and physical health chronic conditions. The Affordable Care Act provides opportunities to launch chronic disease Medicaid health homes (MHH) to address the existing health care gaps. Within a multidisciplinary team, the nurse serves an integral role as the main care manager and coordinator aimed to improve patient experiences, health outcomes, and lowering health care costs. AIMS: The aim of this qualitative study is to assess the nurse's perception of their MHH role and how they may impact patient health care utilization patterns. MATERIALS & METHODS: The qualitative study included a focus group of eleven nurses and individual interviews with seven nurses. RESULTS: Six themes were identified that focus on how nurses can use a wide range of effective communication strategies and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain a nurse-patient relationship. DISCUSSION: The six themes provided insight as to nurses' perceived role in an MHH and how they impact patient health outcomes. The overarching message addressed connecting with the patient and taking the time to find out what was important to them. CONCLUSION: Nurses were able to impact patient health care utilization patterns.

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Surgical creation of a colostomy can have significant physical, emotional, and social effects. Adapting to a new ostomy can be overwhelming and interventions aimed at decreasing barriers to self-care should be a priority for home care patients. Advances in surgical procedures, coupled with decreased length of hospital stays, require home care clinicians to have the skills and knowledge to care for this population through postoperative recovery and the initial phases of learning self-care. This article will focus on the care of patients with a colostomy in the home care setting.

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The aging population is steadily rising, resulting in an increased need for in-home healthcare. This study examined the impact of several carative factors demonstrated by home health nurses. Multiple regression was used to examine the impact of the carative factors, measured by the Caring Nurse Patient Interaction Scale (CNPI-70). A total of 77 home health nurses from five home health agencies in Northeastern Pennsylvania participated in the study. The findings indicate that the principles of care theory are widely applied in home health settings. The author recommends that care theory be a focus of educational health programs and future research.

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The Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) is mandated for use in home healthcare. The purpose of this descriptive study was to compare occupational therapy (OT) OASIS rating of functional status items compared with registered nurse (RN) and physical therapy (PT) ratings. Functional status data were collected on 80 patients: 40 patients comparing RN with OT and 40 patients comparing PT with OT. RN and PT visits were made first and the OT visit followed. There were no items with perfect agreement. The highest agreement was for feeding (76.3%) and the lowest items were for toileting hygiene and ambulation (37.5%). The largest discrepancy scores were for grooming and dressing lower body. Discipline-specific discrepancy scores were mixed. Krippendorff's α scores were almost all above the required minimum of 0.80. There are substantial differences in the functional status items that may reflect differences in the disciplinary training and approaches to patient care. These findings also raise some concerns about OASIS reliability and consistency of measurement.

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Throughout the world, healthcare is increasingly being provided in home and community-based settings. There is a growing awareness that the most effective, least costly, patient-preferred setting is patients' home. Thus, home healthcare nursing is a growing nursing specialty, requiring a unique set of nursing knowledge and skills. Unlike many other nursing specialties, home healthcare nursing has few professional organizations to develop or support its practice. This article describes how an international network of home healthcare nurses developed international guidelines for home healthcare nurses throughout the world. It outlines how the guidelines for home healthcare nursing practice were developed, how an international panel of reviewers was recruited, and the process they used for reaching a consensus. It also describes the plan for nurses to contribute to future updates to the guidelines.

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BACKGROUND: Hospitalizations and potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use are significant and costly issues among older home health patients, yet little is known about the prevalence of PIM use in home health or the relationship between PIM use and hospitalization risk in this population. OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of PIM use and association with hospitalization among Medicare home health patients. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis using data from 132 home health agencies in the US. SUBJECTS: Medicare beneficiaries starting home health nursing services between 2013 and 2014 (n = 87,780). MAIN MEASURES: Prevalence of individual and aggregate PIM use at start of care, measured using the 2012 Beers criteria. Relative risk (RR) of 30-day hospitalization or re-hospitalization associated with individual and aggregate PIM use, compared to no PIM use. KEY RESULTS: In total, 30,168 (34.4%) patients were using at least one PIM, with 5969 (6.8%) taking at least two PIMs according to the Beers list. The most common types of PIMs were those affecting the brain or spinal cord, analgesics, and medications with anticholinergic properties. With the exception of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), PIM use across all classes was associated with elevated risk (10-33%) of hospitalization compared to non-use. Adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics, patients using at least one PIM (excluding NSAIDs) had a 13% greater risk (RR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.17) of being hospitalized than patients using no PIMs, while patients using at least two PIMs had 21% greater risk (RR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.30). Similar associations were found between PIMs and re-hospitalization risk among patients referred to home health from a hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Given the high prevalence of PIM use and the association between PIMs and hospitalization risk, home health episodes represent opportunities to substantially reduce PIM use among older adults and prevent adverse outcomes. Efforts to address medication use during home health episodes, hospitalizations, and care transitions are justified.

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BACKGROUND: A 54-year-old morbidly obese woman with a small bowel obstruction and large ventral hernia was admitted to hospital. She underwent an exploratory laparotomy, lysis of adhesions, and ventral hernia repair with mesh placement. She subsequently developed an enteroatmospheric fistula; several months of hospital care was required to effectively manage the wound and contain effluent from the fistula. METHODS: Several approaches were used to manage output from the fistula during her hospital course. She was initially discharged to a skilled nursing facility where a fistula management pouch was used for several months to encompass the wound and contain effluent, but this method ultimately proved ineffective. The fistula was then isolated using a collapsible enteroatmospheric fistula isolation device and an ostomy appliance to contain effluent. CONCLUSION: The application of the collapsible enteroatmospheric fistula isolation and effluent containment devices in conjunction with negative-pressure wound therapy produced positive patient outcomes; it improved patient satisfaction with fistula management, promoted wound healing, and diminished cost.

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Driving cessation for people with dementia is a significant personal safety and public health issue. Home healthcare professionals frequently encounter situations where patients/clients should not continue to drive, and family members are unaware of how to approach the issue. This article will inform readers of the current state of the healthcare driving assessment process, measures and instruments used to assess, and effective strategies and resources when working with families facing the dilemma of how and when to proceed with a driving cessation plan.

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Introducción. La terapia larval es un método de preparación del lecho de la herida de utilización ancestral. Su uso quedó relegado con la aparición de los antibióticos, hasta nuestros días, donde está resurgiendo como opción en el tratamiento de heridas crónicas. Metodología. Presentamos un caso clínico, donde una herida en pie diabético de seis meses de evolución tórpida y con varios cambios de tratamiento poco efectivos mejora en 3-4 días tras la utilización de terapia larval en el domicilio. El lecho de la herida queda preparado para el proceso de granulación. Resultados. Se puede apreciar cómo, tras cuatro días de tratamiento con la terapia larval, el lecho de la herida queda libre de esfacelos y disminuye también el exudado y el edema. Se consigue una herida en óptimas condiciones para la cicatrización. Se objetivó, aplicando la escala EVA, una clara disminución del dolor tras la terapia. Se demostró que la terapia larval puede utilizarse en atención domiciliaria o comunitaria sin inconvenientes. Conclusión. La terapia larval es un método de desbridamiento rápido, efectivo y seguro, que se puede aplicar en el domicilio del usuario (AU)

Introduction. Maggot therapy is a wound bed preparation method of ancestral use. Its use was relegated with the emergence of antibiotics, until today, where is reemerging as an option in the treatment of chronic wounds. Methodology. We report a case study where a six months wound in diabetic foot with torpid evolution and with several changes of ineffective treatment, improved in 3-4 days after the use of maggot therapy at home; leaving the wound bed prepared for the process of granulation. Results. As could see, after four days from the application of maggot therapy, the wound bed was free of slough, also decreasing exudation and edema. Leaving the optimal conditions for wound healing. It was assessed by the VAS scale decreased pain after dressing changes. It was demonstrated that maggot therapy can be used in home or community care without inconvenience. Conclusion. The maggot therapy is a method of debridement fast, effective and safe, this method can be used in home care (AU)

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In 1986, the American Nurses Association (ANA) published the first Standards of Home Health Practice. Revised in 1992 and expanded in 1999 to become Home Health Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, it was revised in 2008 and again in 2014. In the 2014 edition, there are 6 standards of home healthcare nursing practice and 10 standards of professional performance for home healthcare nursing. The focus of this article is to describe the home healthcare standards and to provide guidance for implementation in clinical practice. It is strongly encouraged that home healthcare administrators, educators, and staff obtain a copy of the standards and fully read this essential home healthcare resource.

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