Module Components

• Overview

Topics

• Definitions
• Why Do Home Visits
• How to Conduct Home Visits

Nurs 467 - Public Health Nursing

Module 7: Home Visiting

definitions

1. Agreement — A contract is an example of an agreement. This is between the nurse and the family regarding the process and conditions by which the health –related goal will be sought. An agreement may be oral or written.
2. Collaboration — Work jointly on an activity, especially to produce or create a program or intervention.
3. Consultation — Seeking the advice or opinion of an expert. Community health nurses may consult with a variety of professionals such as medicine, physical and occupational therapy, environmental hygiene, or education.
4. Contract — It implies a legally binding agreement but this is not true with the nurse-client relationship. Nurses are legally and ethically bound to keep their word in relation to nursing care; clients are not legally bound to keep their agreements. However it is important to establish a mutual agreement for relating that will increase the clarity of who will do what, when, where, and for what purpose.
5. Empathy — Ability to place yourself in someone else’s shoes and be able to walk in her or his footsteps so as to understand the journey. It requires sensitivity to another’s experience.
6. Family Focus — To relate to the family, to meet all of the members of the household.
7. Genuineness — Means you say and do what is consistent with your understanding of the situation. This facilitates honesty and disclosure, and reduces the likelihood that the family will feel betrayed or coerced. It enhances the relationship.
8. Home Visit — A purposeful interaction in a home (or residence) at promoting and maintaining the health of individuals and the family (or significant other).
9. Presence — Being related interpersonally in ways that reveal positive regard, empathy, genuineness, and caring concern.
10. Referral — The act or instance of sending or directing someone for treatment, aid, information, or a decision. The referral may be indicated for screening, medical diagnostic exam, emergency services, nursing home placement, social services, or consultations regarding the treatment and care regimen. It consists of communication among three individuals:the client, the person making the referral, and the person or persons to whom the client has been referred.