• What is the OASIS in Home Health Care?

    As many of you know, I have been in home health and hospice for over 35 years. I worked many years in the field seeing patients and writing plans of care. I’ve worked in middle management and mentored hundreds of nurses, therapists and social workers especially in documentation skills. Today I work in hospice as the QAPI nurse where I review documentation and the quality of care being provided by our fabulous staff. Home health and hospice are growing fields for nurses and other healthcare professionals. Patients leave the acute setting much sicker than they ever have and skilled professionals are in demand to handle the growth. But home health…

  • Nurses Week 2017 – May 12

    Today marks the end of Nurses Week 2017. May 12 is the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale who some feel is the founder of the nursing profession. If we search into the history of nursing, the profession started long before Florence, but she brought strong clinical skills and universal precautions to nursing and helped save many many lives during the Crimean War. So as part of Nurses Week celebrations, many stop for a moment to recite the Florence Nightingale Pledge which is also known as the Nurses Oath. I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and…

  • May 6 Happy Nurses Day — Give Away #1

    Happy #NursesDay! May 6 is designated as Nurses Day in the U.S. to celebrate the nursing profession and to raise awareness of the important role nurses play in society around the world. Nurses Week runs through May 12 each year which is the birthday of Florence Nightingale ( May 12, 1820). One of components of a Nurses Day celebration is reciting or reading for The Nightingale Pledge which is also known as the Nurse’s Oath: I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and…

  • A Year in Review for The Nursing Site Blog

    Here’s my list of top viewed posting on The Nursing site Blog for 2015. Although some of them are from previous years, they still rank among the top-viewed postings for 2015.  It has been an eventful year, and looking back there are a few surprises to this list, but welcome ones indeed. The one post that remains constantly in the Top 10 blog posts for the year is How to Perform a Head to Toe Assessment. I have also given you some documentation tips for how to describe your findings. www.happynewyearwishes.org Jennifer Johnson at Nurse Practitioner Schools shared a post 101 Blog Posts Every New Nurse Should Raed that garners…

  • Exploring Home Health Care

    Home health care is the fastest growing field in health care. With mandates to reduce costs and a need to educate patients and family members in how to prevent and manage complications from chronic diseases such as diabetes, lupus, MS, COPD and other respiratory diseases, CHF and other chronic heart conditions, kidney disease and more…. home health care fits right in to this niche. As a home health and hospice nurse for 35+ years I have had the opportunity to mentor and help many nurses, therapists (PT, OT, SLP) and social workers become fabulous home health care professionals. It’s not an easy transition and many are scared away from the…