Care in the home in the United States lags behind other countries because of the lack of access to healthcare, according to Susan Hinck, PhD, president of the International Home Care Nurses Organization, which represents hundreds of nurses and close to 40 countries, and Marilyn Harris, RN, a board member. However, the US is keeping pace internationally with the hospital-at-home program. And the growing use of technology in the home, including ambient listening, is serving nurses well, they told McKnight’s Home Care in a Newsmakers podcast. Reminiscing on home care nursing of yore, Harris, who began her nursing career in 1960 reflected on the contents of the “black bag” she used to bring into the home. Among them: a 3 oz. bottle of alcohol, a brush and orange stick to clean her fingernails, and hypodermic syringes.
he International Home Care Nurses Organization is a gathering of international nurses — ranging from RNs to clergy, aides and therapists — who come together to share what they know about home healthcare nursing. Susan Hinck, PhD, president of organization, and Marilyn Harris, RN, a board member, recently returned from a three-day global conference in London at which nurses represented 33 countries. It’s helpful to learn what other countries are doing in the area of home healthcare nursing, Hinck said. The Scandinavian countries —with their universal access to healthcare — in particular are an international model of strong home care nursing. Technology has allowed nurses in the home to provide more hands-on care, Hinck said. And the increased focus on social determinants of health has helped to improve the health of home care patients, Harris noted.
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Show contributors:
McKnight’s Home Care Editor Liza Berger; Susan Hinck, PhD, president, International Home Care Nurses Organization; and Marilyn Harris, RN, board member, International Home Care Nurses Organization