Home Health Nursing: A Comprehensive Guide to Scope and Standards of Practice

By Jane Doe, RN, PhD

Home health nursing is a rapidly growing field as the population ages and more people prefer to receive care in their own homes. Home health nurses provide a wide range of services, including skilled nursing care, wound care, medication management, and patient education. They work with patients of all ages, from newborns to the elderly.

Home Health Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice

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To ensure that home health nurses provide high-quality care, the American Nurses Association (ANA) has developed a set of scope and standards of practice. These standards outline the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities that home health nurses must have to provide safe and effective care.

The ANA's scope and standards of practice for home health nursing are divided into four domains:

1. Nursing Practice
2. Collaboration
3. Leadership
4. Professionalism

Nursing Practice

The nursing practice domain includes the following standards:

• Assessment: Home health nurses must be able to assess the patient's physical, emotional, and social needs.
• Planning: Home health nurses must be able to develop a plan of care that meets the patient's individual needs.
• Implementation: Home health nurses must be able to provide skilled nursing care, wound care, medication management, and patient education.
• Evaluation: Home health nurses must be able to evaluate the patient's progress and make necessary adjustments to the plan of care.

Collaboration

The collaboration domain includes the following standards:

• Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Home health nurses must be able to collaborate with other healthcare professionals, such as physicians, social workers, and physical therapists, to provide comprehensive care to the patient.
• Patient and Family Collaboration: Home health nurses must be able to collaborate with the patient and family to develop a plan of care that meets the patient's needs and preferences.

Leadership

The leadership domain includes the following standards:

• Clinical Leadership: Home health nurses must be able to provide clinical leadership to other healthcare professionals, such as certified nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses.
• Systems Leadership: Home health nurses must be able to participate in the development and implementation of policies and procedures that improve the quality of care for home health patients.

Professionalism

The professionalism domain includes the following standards:

• Ethics: Home health nurses must be able to adhere to ethical principles in their practice.
• Continuing Education: Home health nurses must be able to participate in continuing education activities to maintain their knowledge and skills.
• Quality Improvement: Home health nurses must be able to participate in quality improvement activities to improve the quality of care for home health patients.

The ANA's scope and standards of practice for home health nursing provide a framework for home health nurses to provide high-quality care to their patients. By adhering to these standards, home health nurses can ensure that they are providing safe, effective, and compassionate care to the patients they serve.

Additional Resources

• American Nurses Association: Home Health Nursing Scope and Standards of Practice
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI)
• The Joint Commission

Home Health Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice

4.8 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	4662 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Print length	:	282 pages

FREE