HOM E V IS I T

NGAY HEA LT H SERVIC ES

BARA
HOME VISIT
A home visit is a professional face to face contact made by a
health care provider to the patient or the family to provide
necessary health care activities and to further attain an
objective of the agency.
HOME VISIT
PRINCIPLES IN PREPARING FOR A HOME VISIT

1. A home visit should have a purpose or objective.

2. Planning for a home visit should make use of all available
information about the patient and his/her family through
family health records, knowledge of the health care
personnel, including those from other agencies that may have
rendered services to this particular patient or family.
 HOME VISIT
PRINCIPLES IN PREPARING FOR A HOME VISIT

3. Planning should revolve around the essential needs of the

individual and his/her family but priority should be given to
those needs recognized by the family itself.
4. Planning of a continuing care should involve the individual
and his/her family.
5. Planning should be flexible and practical
 FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN DETERMINING
THE FREQUENCY OF HOME VISIT
 The physical, psychological and educational needs of the
individual and family.
 The acceptance of the family for the services offered; the
willingness and interest to cooperate.
 Take into account other health agencies and the number of
health personnel already involved in the care of a specific
family.
 FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN DETERMINING
THE FREQUENCY OF HOME VISIT
 The policy of a given agency and the emphasis placed on a
given health program.
 A careful evaluation of a past services given to a family and
how this family made use of such nursing services.
 The ability of the patient and his/her family to recognize their
own needs, their knowledge of available resources and their
abilities to use these resources on their own accord.
 STEPS IN HOME VISIT
1. Greet client or household member and introduce yourself.
2. Explain purpose of home visit.
3. Inquire about health and welfare of client/ patient and other
family members. Ask about any health and health-related
problems.
4. Place bag in a convenient place before doing bag technique.
5. Wash hands and wear apron and put out needed articles
and/or medicines, dressings from bag.
 STEPS IN HOME VISIT
6. Perform physical assessment and nursing care needed. If
more than one member of the family is for health supervision
and care, start with the well member to avoid transfer of
infection.
7. Give the necessary health teaching and advice based on
client’s needs.
8. Wash hands and close bag.
9. Record findings and nursing care given.
10. Make appointment either for a clinic or home visit.
 STEPS IN HOME VISIT
11. On succeeding home visit and when health care provider has
gained the family’s trust and confidence, she/he may look into
more detailed aspects of the household and surroundings and
other problems/concerns.
 BAG TECHNIQUE
A tool making use of a public health bag though which the
nurse, during his/her home visit, can perform nursing
procedures with ease and deftness, saving time and effort with
the end in view of rendering effective nursing care.
 BAG TECHNIQUE
Public Health Bag: is an essential and indispensable equipment
of the public health nurse which he/she can carry along when
he/she goes out home visiting. It contains basic medications and
articles which are necessary for giving care.

RATIONALE: To render effective nursing care to clients and/or

members of the family during home visit.
 BAG TECHNIQUE
PRINCIPLES:
1. The use of bag technique should minimize if not totally
prevent the spread of infection from individuals to families,
hence, to the community.
2. Bag technique should save time and effort on the part of the
nurse in the performance of nursing procedures.
 BAG TECHNIQUE
PRINCIPLES:
3. Bag technique should not overshadow concerns of the patient
rather should show the effectiveness of total care given to an
individual or family.
4. Bag technique can be perform in a variety of ways depending
upon agency policies, actual home situation, etc., as long as
principles of transfer of infection is carried out.
 BAG TECHNIQUE
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE USE OF THE BAG
1. The bag should contain all necessary articles, supplies and equipment
which may be used to answer emergency needs.
2. The bag and its content should be cleaned as often as possible,
supplies replaced and ready for the use at any time.
3. The bag and its content should be protected from contact with any
article in the home of the patients. Consider the bag and its contents
clean and/or sterile while any article belonging to the patient as dirty
and contaminated.
 BAG TECHNIQUE
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE USE OF THE BAG
4. The arrangement of the content of the bag should be the one most
convenient to the user to facilitate efficiency and avoid confusion.
5. Hand washing is done as frequently as the situation calls for, helps in
minimizing and avoiding contamination of the bag and its contents.
6. The bag when use in a communicable case should be thoroughly
cleaned and disinfected before keeping and re-using.
 CONTENT OF THE BAG
• Paper lining
• Extra paper for making bag for waste materials
• Apron
• Hand towel in plastic bag
• Soap in a dish
• Thermometer
• 2 pairs of scissors (surgical & bandage)
• 2 pairs of forceps (curved and straight)
 CONTENT OF THE BAG
• Syringes (5cc, 3cc, 1cc)
• Hypodermic needles (g. 19, 22, 23, 25)
• Sterile dressings
• Sterile cord tie
• Adhesive plaster
• Cotton balls
• Alcohol lamp
• Tape measure
• Baby’s scale
 CONTENT OF THE BAG
• Gloves
• 2 test tubes
• Test tube holder
• Medicines
 Betadine
 70% alcohol  Spirit of ammonia
 Ophthalmic ointment  Acetic acid
 Hydrogen peroxide  Benedict’s solution
Note: BP apparatus and Stethoscope are
carried separately.
PROCEDURES
ACTIONS RATIONALE
1. Upon arriving at the client’s home, place the bag on the To protect the bag from contamination.
table or any flat surface lined with paper lining, clean side
out (folded part touching the table). Put bag’s handles or
strap beneath the bag.
2. Ask for a basin of water and a glass of water if faucet is To be used for hand washing
not available.
Place these outside the work area. To protect the work field from being
wet.
3. Open the bag, take the linen/ plastic lining and spread To make a non-contaminated work
over working field or area. The paper lining, clean side out. field or area.
PROCEDURES
ACTIONS RATIONALE
4. Take out hand towel, soap dish and apron and place them To prepare for hand washing
at one corner of the work area.

5. Do hand washing. Wipe, dry with towel. Leave the plastic Hand washing prevents possible
wrappers of towel in a soap dish in the bag. infection from care provider to the
client.

6. Put on apron right side out and wrong side with crease To protect the nurse’s uniform.
touching the body, sliding the head into the neck strap. Keeping the crease creates aesthetic
Neatly tie the straps at the back. appearance.
PROCEDURES
ACTIONS RATIONALE
7. Put out things most needed for the specific case (e.g. To make them readily accessible.
thermometer, kidney basin, cotton balls, waste paper bag) and
place at one corner of the work area.
8. Place waste paper bag outside of work area. To prevent contamination of clean
area
9. Close the bag. To give comfort and security,
maintain personal hygiene and speed
up recovery.
10. Proceed to the specific nursing care or treatment. To prevent contamination of bag and
contents.
PROCEDURES
ACTIONS RATIONALE
11. After completing nursing care or treatment, clean and To protect caregiver and prevent
alcoholize the things used. spread of infection to others.
12. Do hand washing again. To prevent spread of
microorganisms.
13. Open the bag and put back all articles in their proper places.

14. Remove apron folding away from the body, with soiled side
folded inwards, and the clean side out. place it in the bag.
 PROCEDURES
ACTIONS RATIONALE
15. Fold the linen/plastic lining, place it in the bag
and close the bag.
16. Make post-visit conference on matters relevant to To be used as future reference
health care, taking anectodal notes preparatory to for future visit.
final reporting.
17. Make appointment for the next visit (either home For follow-up care.
or clinic), taking note of the date, time and purpose.
AFTER CARE
1. Before keeping all articles in the bag, clean and alcoholize them.

2. Get the bag from the table, fold the paper lining (and insert), and place
in between the flaps and cover the bag.
EVALUATION AND DOCUMENTATION
1. Record all relevant findings about the client and members of the
family.
2. Take note of the environmental factors which affect the client/ family
health.
3. Include quality of nurse-patient relationship.
4. Assess effectiveness of nursing care provided.
THERMOMETER TECHNIQUE
It is a method of checking a client’s temperature with due attention given
to the cleanliness of the thermometer being used.
THERMOMETER TECHNIQUE
RATIONALE:

1. To check client’s temperature and discover any significant finding.

2. To keep the thermometer aseptically clean so as to prevent transfer of
infection from one client to another.
3. To protect other contents of the bag keeping the thermometer
aseptically clean.
 PROCEDURES
ACTIONS RATIONALE
1. Identify your client and explain the procedure. To prepare client and relieve
anxiety.
2. Using the bag technique lay out, put out the To prevent contamination of
thermometer leaving the case inside the bag. the case of thermometer.
Check if the mercury in the thermometer is at the To assure accuracy.
level of 35°C.
PROCEDURES
ACTIONS RATIONALE
4. Place the thermometer beneath the tongue or Wiping is done from a clean to a dirty area.
in patient’s axilla and take the temperature,
pulse and respiration following the procedure
of taking vital signs.
5. Remove the thermometer from the patient’s
mouth/ axilla and wipe with one dry cotton ball
from your fingers downward to the bulb in a
twisting motion. Discard used cotton ball.
6. Read the thermometer.
PROCEDURES
ACTIONS RATIONALE
7. Clean the thermometer in a downward The best way to clean the thermometer is to
spiral motion from the stem to the bulb, use soap & removing water before
holding it over the waste paper bag using the disinfecting.
following technique:
1st – 3 cotton balls moisten with soap.
Discard.
2nd – 3 cotton balls moisten with water.
3rd – cotton balls moisten with alcohol, then To allow time for the disinfection.
wrap around the bulb of the thermometer and
lay it inside the kidney basin.

NOTE: oral temp. is taken 2-3 mins; per axilla 5-8 mins.; pe rectum 1
min.
EVALUATION AND DOCUMENTATION
1. Record client’s temperature.
2. Intervention done
3. Health teachings given
4. Evaluate client’s condition.