Because the need for care never stops, neither do we !

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Post-natal

How to Get Quality Postnatal Care at Home

Quality Postnatal Care at Home
Quality Postnatal Care at Home

Dubai being a global hub of professionals and a cosmopolitan mingling pot of expats, it’s needless to mention that here families come to stay from all over the world. And often without the security and comfort of their own immediate family. In stages of motherhood, when it is imperative for a new mother and the newborn to get optimal nurturing and Cesarean post-operative care at home, one needs to choose the best maternity nurse from the top-rated postnatal care clinics in Dubai.

While motherhood is surely the experience of joy and excitement and enriches the mother and the family’s life, the new mother is also worried about post-operative care and recovery.

So, the wonderful experience of welcoming the little bundle of joy to one’s home must be simultaneously followed up with a sound medical guidance and postnatal care at home. Since the real cause of worry starts after being discharged from the hospital, it’s best to have a reliable and recommended maternity nurse a little before time. This will ensure that parents of the newborn will not fret over handling the new list of dos and don’ts or about sleepless nights, rather enjoy the bonding with the baby.

So, what are the most common duties of a maternity nurse?

Handling day-to-day chores of baby care is definitely a basic parameter that they need to take care of. This covers the activities of changing nappies, breastfeeding, dealing with sudden cries and hunger pangs. This also helps new mothers to get ample resting period to recover fully and regain composure of mind, as sometimes new mothers naturally tend to slip into stress owing to concerns regarding the new physiological and psychological changes as well changes in self-perception.

Most Cesarean or C-section deliveries postnatal care for mother and baby.

Monitoring during the first few months is vital for babies as that ensures healthy growth. Regular check-ups, supervision of diet chart, supervision of skin and hair conditions, baby massages and baby health counseling at clinics are all part of postnatal care. Healthy mothers and healthy babies–both from the physical and psychological point of view–are essential points of agreement for any postnatal care to be counted as a quality one.

At Nightingale Dubai, our competent maternity nurses are equipped to handle post-delivery care. They can guide a mother through the motherhood process via a well-packaged capsule of motherhood education. They also cover a vast range of experience to handle different kinds of families as per their cultural expectations or are adaptive towards the same. The motherhood capsule course provided by a trained maternity nurse attunes the new mother towards the varied and complex needs of a newborn while also letting her learn to respect her own body and not neglect its own demands.

Then there are the intimate details broken down to their practical aspects. Aspects like holding and handling a baby and responding to her changing moods.

Apart from providing sound motherhood education and counseling, a maternity nurse should be able to adopt a hands-down approach towards creating the right environment of nurture and safety for the baby.

Most fundamentally, maternity care nurses must maintain a daily medical log of the vital parameters of the baby and the observations noted during the day. This log should cover the basics of clinical assessment of the baby during the most critical postnatal period that is generally counted as the first six weeks post birth.

For newborns, such a clinical assessment service should aim at providing a routine health check-up and monitoring of baby weighing, imparting training for settling techniques, monitoring sleep patterns, assessment of neonatal conditions and prevention of outbreak of infections.

Mothers post Cesarean deliveries must also be included under this clinical assessment process. It should cover a thorough check-up of the vital parameters like blood pressure, monitoring of stitches, and prevention of any infection, dietary support to make up for the blood loss, post-cesarean care, and advice on family relationships.

Apart from the above-listed, Quality Postnatal Care at Home should include:

  • Lactation Guide
  • Baby Massaging Pattern
  • Baby Feeding
  • Breastfeeding Manual
  • Baby Hygiene Care
  • New Mothers Counseling

Lactation Guide: Guiding a lactating mother on the right nutritional value-oriented meals to follow is important as her nutrition is important for the baby’s growth.

Baby Massaging Pattern: Hand-holding parents with the important and memorable process of bathing the baby and teaching them the correct methods and strokes for massaging babies is also an important feature of this.

Baby Feeding: Guiding mothers with proper handling and cleaning of baby feeding apparatus.

Breastfeeding Manual: Tons of concerns pop up in a lactating mother’s mind. From correct breastfeeding techniques to questions of the pressure it has on women, there’s a whole training session on breastfeeding that trained maternity nurses should conduct.

Baby Hygiene Care: This is very important for both babies and mothers. Babies are susceptible to contract infections easily from their mothers due to the close proximity. Maternity nurses train mothers to maintain supreme quality of hygiene.

New Mothers Counseling: Post childbirth often leads to depression among new mothers. In the medical parlance, it is known as post-partum depression. It is generally caused when the excitement of anticipating childbirth and the feeling of being at the center of everyone’s attention gets over. Then there are issues like body weight, self-perception, perceived problems in conjugal life, getting back to normal life etc. Experienced at-home maternity nurses can provide sensitive counseling to mothers regarding this.

At Nightingale Dubai, we understand that maternity nurses are more than just provides of home postnatal care services. They are also effective trainers and guides.

Categories
Elderly Care

Professional elderly home care must give them care, dignity, and independence in the comfort of home

Professional elderly home care
Professional elderly home care

Elders are like those branches of a tree that have shaded its shoots and foliage forever and now they require a few soothing words combined with dedicated care and medical attention to lead a life of dignity and independence. Senior home health care services occupies a lot of space in modern healthcare and it’s especially true for a bustling city like Dubai, which is caught jet-setting denizens and a huge population of expats leaving most families with no time to take care of the elder members. And even if there are families and friends that are willing to do so and have the requisite amount of time, it can’t be equal to professional senior home caregivers and home elder care nurses who specialize in home eldercare services.

It is also important to remember that even if there are willing family members for senior home assistance they can’t provide 24/7 care simply because they have their own schedules and personal engagements, which is only natural at their age and both professional and personal stage of their lives. Round-the-clock engagement with elderly care would mean disruptions in the rhythms of their own lives and that is not sustainable for a long period of time. And who would suffer in that case? Undoubtedly, the elders who need dedicated attention and are not at all equipped to deal with such neglect. In such a scenario, it would be a pragmatic solution to get at home a specialist in senior home care.

Senior home care specialists also bring a level of technical expertise, therapeutic counseling, and daily assistance to board that is unthinkable from a non-medically proficient family member or well wisher.

At Nightingale Dubai, we understand that the elders of your family require a caring, well-groomed, and expert home care senior care nurse. Our screening process involves a through background and experience check to recommend the ideal fit for your family. We ensure that apart from superior clinical assistance, they are able to maintain dignity and respectability while assisting elders with performing private chores and also encourage them with words of appreciation. It is important that elders never feel humiliated or embarrassed or do not shrink into depression as is common during certain physical conditions that restrict movement or induce appearance changes.

Apart from giving peace of mind to your family, a well-rounded and reliable elder home care service should aim at the improving the quality of life of elders while empowering them to the maximum degree possible as well as helping them out with the essential activities.

A caring and qualified home nurse should be trained in administering first-aid and day-to-day care that covers the following activities:

Elderly patients with activities of daily living such as:

  • Everyday ritual of bathing and dressing
  • Assistance with daily intake of meals
  • Assistance with reminders and intake of medication
  • Assistance with mobility in and around the house

A well-designed elderly home care service should also cover the following other parameters:

  • Monitoring vital signs
  • Controlling infections
  • Providing wound and skin care
  • Providing support for external medical appointments
  • Preventing bed sores
  • Maintaining medical records log

Monitoring vital signs: Vital parameters such as body temperature and pulse and respiration rate should be monitored regularly by home nurses and their record maintained as the normalcy of these signs indicate good health and vice versa.
Controlling infections: Elders, just like children, are most susceptible to varied infections and the spread of infections among elders is worrisome as they have lesser resistance power to overcome them. So, a home care nurse is required to maintaining supreme standards of personal hygiene of elders and hygiene of the home environment by ensuring cleanliness of living standards, sterilization of feeding tools and medical equipment etc.
Providing wound and skin care: Proper healing of wounds is stressed upon among elders for the same reason that the spread of infection is feared upon. Similarly, elders often suffer from fragile skin conditions and a home nurse should be able to dress wounds regularly, keep the area clean, and monitor healing apart from applying ointments etc for specific skin conditions as recommended by the family physician or dermatologist.
Providing support for external medical appointments: A elderly home care nurse should be able to block dates for routine medical examinations and check-ups, inform and update the patient’s family regarding the same, and if need be visit the doctor or clinic for these with or without the family.
Preventing bed sores: Elderly members often suffer from severe conditions resulting from a surgery, fall, or accidents that render them bed-ridden leaving them vulnerable to the dangerous possibility of bed sores. It is an extremely painful condition that occurs from constantly reclined position or bed-urination etc. A caring home nurse must take optimal care to prevent that.
Maintaining medical records log: Certain conditions demand a day-by-day, even hourly maintenance of a medical record log to be presented for review of the concerned physician. Only an able medical nurse would be able to render this service with precision and dedication.

At Nightingale Dubai, our registered elder care nurses are proficient in managing nutrition therapy, assisting with toilet rituals and incontinence issues, assistance with walking, stabilization and light exercise and engaging seniors in physical and mental activities.For diabetic patients, diabetes management, assessment and control and supervision of Diabetic foot are the areas that they look after. So, it’s a complete range of senior home care assistance that they cover.

Categories
Elderly Care

Elderly care is a crucial aspect of home healthcare in modern times

 

elderly home health care in dubai
Elderly home health care in Dubai

They are the trees who have nurtured us throughout our lives. They are the trees who have shaded us through the sun and rains of our lives. They are the smiling faces who have sacrificed many a sleepless night and thrown away all caution to the wind only to buy that one precious thing that we set our heart on.

Yes, they are our parents and elders of our families who have forever extended their unflinching hand of friendship towards us. Our caregivers who have lavished all their love and care upon us both in times of sickness and happiness.

This brings us to the question of caring and providing for them when they are in the twilight of their lives and need as much care and attention as we needed as children. These sensitive years are like a second childhood for our elders and they require constant guidance and support.

However, as much as we wish to provide them with the same care and attention, it is unfortunately not a reality for most professionals today. The existence of small, nuclear families staying away from elders and their immediate families, means a lot of family elders and a huge section of the generation of parents stay away from their sons and daughters and other younger members of the family. Often, the younger generations stays in a different city, and sometimes in a different country altogether making it difficult to provide quality home care for elders. Another important factor is that of the presence of newborns or children at home making it difficult for parents to care equally and constantly for both their children and parents.

And it’s not only medical care, routine tests, or daily administration of medicines and monitoring of diet that is required on a regular basis, but it is also about pain management owing to joint and muscle swelling due to arthritis, prostrate care, diabetes care, Alzheimer care, insomnia, and most importantly, depression and loneliness.

Since elders are used to the comforts and privacy of their homes and are attached to their homes in a sentimental manner, it is best to give them holistic care within the familiarity of their homes.

Professionally trained and mild-mannered nurses can provide quality healthcare services at home for elders while maintaining the sense of privacy and dignity that senior citizens look forward to. Here’s a list of services that elderly care at home should cover:

Assistance with bathing and dressing — Often, old age induces a series of problems that they think embarrassing as well as problems with mobility hindering the daily functioning of routine lives. Here comes the support of well-trained home nurses in assisting elders with daily activities of bathing, washroom management, dressing and making the bed.

Assistance with meals — Consumption of daily meals poses problems for a lot of senile people due to a variety of factors including mobility problem, pain-related issue, or balance-related issue. The best home care service includes daily monitoring with meals and assistance with feeding, drinking water, and taking medicines.

Monitoring of medicine intake — Home nurses are equipped to maintain the daily medicine chart and round-the-clock maintenance of medicine intake so that the elderly patient doesn’t miss a single dose of medicine. This adds to their well-being.

Monitoring of diet chart — Diet is a very vital component of any elderly person’s life. There are dietary restrictions and there are some complete no-no items for a lot of elderly people owing to the nature of their physical condition and particular disease. Hence, diet management is crucial for the well-being of senior people. Also, there has to be a balance of nutrition as well as satisfaction to their taste buds as seniors, just like children, will not have distasteful food. A professional home nurse has to ensure that the food administered to senior is not only healthy and hygienic but also palatable.

Assistance with mobility: Another problem faced by elderly people is that of mobility. This could be due to senility or any operation or acute physical condition. In all such cases, professional home nurses are able to provide complete and caring assistance with mobility.

Post-operative care: A major area of concern for elderly care is that of providing them with care and attention to recover during a very delicate phase after undergoing an operation, which is quite common at this age. Ranging from prostrate operation to knee replacement surgery and cataract surgery, trained home care nurses are able to provide them with the much-needed medical monitoring as well as mobility assistance, helping them to lead a normal, stress-free post-operative period.

Specialized care for rare health conditions: Health conditions such as Parkinson’s, Alzeihmer’s, paralysis, heart condition, or patients who are bedridden require long-term medication and constant monitoring of vital parameters. Trained medical nurses are able to provide 24/7 care and assistance to such patients with meals, medicines, mobility, and encouraging them to maintain a positive outlook.

A well-trained elderly home care nurse should be able to provide round-the-clock assistance in the following fundamental areas:

  • Monitoring of vital parameters such as body temperature, blood pressure, and pulse rate.
  • Controlling the spread of infection by maintaining high standards of hygiene in the home environment as elderly people are susceptible to get infections like UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) very easily.
  • Assistance in prevention of and/or tending to bed sores while bedridden.
  • Assistance with wound care and skin care as elderly persons often suffer fragile skin conditions that can worsen under lack of care.
  • Assistance with daily toilet activities and incontinence issues.
  • Helping elderly people undertake light exercises and walking on daily basis.
  • Providing support for external medical appointment and maintaining a daily medical log to be shared with others in the family and the family doctors.
  • Assistance of diabetic patients with their meals and diabetic foot.
  • Assistance with weight and nutritional management of elderly patients.

At Nightingale Dubai, we provide top-grade home care services for elderly healthcare management. We are affiliated with fully vetted and qualified home nurses who can not only provide 24/7 medical and daily assistance for elderly patients but also help them lead a life of positivity and independence by giving offering them mental counselling and anti-depression care, especially to battle depression and loneliness.

Categories
Training, Events and Workshops

Dubai Silicon Oasis ENBD Unity run – Friday, 16 November 2018 at 6:00 AM – 3:00 PM

The Emirates NBD Unity Run supports two exceptional centres of excellence for children and young adults with disabilities, Al Noor Centre and Senses Centre. Both offer the best professional services in purpose-built facilities with outstanding examples of best practice. The Emirates NBD Unity Run also supports Emirates Red Crescent who are leaders in worldwide humanitarian work.

Nightingale will be contributing by running the creche area at the Unity run and offering complimentary childcare in support of these fantastic centres, our physiotherapist Johnathan and Midwife Malin will also be taking part in the run to help raise awareness.

Categories
Training, Events and Workshops

Flywheel at the Gold and Diamond Park – Tuesday, 13 November 2018 at 10am – 12noon

My best pre and post-natal advice with Nightingales lead midwife Malin

Malin will give an informative talk on pre and post-natal topics and the truths and myths behind exercising during and after pregnancy. She will be carrying out baby checks and weighing also.

Our nurses will be there for an extra helping hand so bring your little ones along.

Categories
Child care Post-natal

Postnatal care is most important for mothers and babies to lead a healthy life and avoid complications after a delivery

Postnatal care is most important for mothers
Postnatal care is most important for mothers

The sight and smell of a newborn is most heartwarming to any parent. The tiny features resembling that of the baby’s birth-givers bring genuine tears of joy to the parents. There are parents who get their baby room painted and stuffed with toys ahead of the precious little thing’s official first day as a newborn.

While the entire experience of childbirth is incredible and phenomenal for parents, all the excitement of welcoming the bundle of joy to this world must follow a sound medical procedure for complete and holistic postnatal care at home for both the mother and the baby.

In fact, for most mothers the dreaded part begins after being discharged from the hospital. Suddenly, there’s a platterful to deal with and that too not with much knowledge or preparedness.

The spell of sleepless nights can be taxing for new mothers or parents. Changing nappies, breastfeeding, dealing with sudden cries etc. Can be daunting for a new mother, especially when she herself needs care, rest, and medical supervision to recover.

Most new parents require education on immunizations, lactation care, and the terrifying prospect of giving the first baby bath and massage. Everything related to the baby in the first few months is crucial as that paves the way for healthy growth. Apart from regular check-ups and counseling at clinics, at-home postnatal care ensures speedy recovery of mothers and healthy growth of babies.

At-home postnatal services ensure that the new mother also gets ample rest and care without worrying about her baby, apart from gaining knowledge and awareness about raising a newborn.

Postnatal care is critical for Caesarian-section deliveries.

Home maternity care nurses who are trained to provide postnatal care provide the following specialized services.

  • They provide you a basic, yet comprehensive motherhood education bouquet that has a hands-down approach towards the day-to-day details such as settling the baby in the right place and environment, understanding and monitoring the sleep cycles of the baby, and becoming aware of her feeding cycles and patterns.
  • In short, the motherhood capsule course provided by a trained professional helps the new mother at becoming sensitive towards the baby’s needs without compromising her own health as she also gets attention from the nurse.
  • The intimate and conversational approach of the at-home nurses ensure that a mother gets an all-round view of all the practical aspects of holding and handling a baby and catering to her varied moods.
  • They provide a thorough clinical assessment of the baby during the conventional postnatal period that, generally, lasts for six weeks after birth.
  • For the newborns, the medical assessment service covers: a general health check-up, baby weighing, settling techniques, sleep patterns, assessment of neonatal conditions, infections and more.
  • For mothers, it includes a complete check-up of the vital parameters like blood pressure, monitoring of stitches, and prevention of any infection, dietary support to make up for the blood loss, post-caesarian care, and advice on family relationships.

The most common postnatal care services at home include the following day-to-day aspects:

  • Holding the newborn: Teaching parents the proper way to hold a newborn by our newborn babycare nurses .
  • Dietary care for lactation: Guiding a lactating mother on the right diet chart to follow for getting all the vital sources of nutrition for herself and her baby.
  • Baby bathing and massaging guide: Assisting parents with baby bathing and baby massaging and teaching them the correct ways to do so.
  • Baby feeding and maintaining feeding tools: Assisting mothers with handling and cleaning baby pump bottles.
  • Breastfeeding: There are a zillion questions that come to a lactating mother’s mind. From correct breastfeeding techniques to questions that range on the toll that it takes on women, there’s a whole Q&A session on breastfeeding that trained nurses are able to deliver.
  • Baby hygiene maintenance: This is very important for both babies. Babies contract infections easily from their mothers due to the close proximity and hence, it is important for mothers to maintain strong hygiene standards and professional home nurses are able to guide on the dos and don’ts.
  • Counselling to new mothers: Post-childbirth is a critical time for mothers as they often deal with depression, commonly referred to as post-partum depression, once the anticipation and wait is over. The bubble bursts and new mothers, sometimes, start fretting over issues like body weight, self-perception, perceived problems in conjugal life, getting back to normal life etc. Experienced and caring maternity nurses provide the right kind of counselling to mothers helping them counter symptoms and signs of anxiety with positive thoughts and an engaging schedule.

At Nightingale Dubai, we understand the need for a helping hand, a non-judgmental, patient friend, and a professional caregiver. Our well-versed maternity nurses provide world-class at-home postnatal services by combining updated knowledge with intuitive care.

Categories
Baby Care Child care Weaning

Tips For Keeping Your Kids Healthy During the Holidays

happy kids dubai summer
Happy kids – Dubai summer

Want to enjoy the holiday season with joy & not a sick child? Here’re tips to help you and your children avoid common illnesses during the holidays

Regardless of what you’re celebrating, the holiday season is upon us and with it comes plenty of germs! Between colds, flu bugs, and other illnesses, it’s essential to practice healthy habits to keep your batteries charged and your children healthy during the holidays.

At Nightingale Home Nursing we want to enjoy your holiday season with joy, laughter, and cheer and not a sick child or loved one. Our DHA registered home nurses have put together their top tips to help you and your children avoid common illnesses during the holidays.

Wash Your Hands Often

Hand washing is one of the most beneficial habits we can teach our children. Think of hand washing as a simple “do-it-yourself” vaccine that’s a win for everyone except the germs. Hand-washing is especially important after using the restrooms and before meals. If you’re planning on travelling this holiday season, keep hand sanitizer within reach to “wash” those germs away when you are on-the-go.

Keeping your hands clean is one of the most critical steps you can take to avoid spreading germs to others and getting sick. When you wash your hands be sure to use soap and clean, hot running water. Rub them together for at least 20 seconds to ensure you are killing all of the bacteria you may have come in contact with. If you have trouble keeping your children at the sink for this amount of time, sing their favourite song while you wash. It makes the process fun and helps the time pass.

Catch Those Sneezes and Coughs

Be sure to teach your children to sneeze or cough into their elbow or a tissue instead of their little hands. The earlier you instill this behaviour, the better. This simple act helps to prevent germs from spreading to every surface they touch.

Encourage your children to keep their hands out of their mouth. Everything they touch is a potential breeding ground for bacteria and illness. Subways, trains, cabs, aeroplanes, and other forms of public transportation are full of infectious germs. Keeping their hands out of their mouths will help your children stay healthy during the holiday season. If this is something your child struggles with, re-emphasise the importance of frequent and proper hand washing.

Get Plenty of Rest

Another way to keep your children healthy during the holiday season is and to boost their immune system is to ensure they are getting enough rest. Children should sleep uninterrupted, anywhere from 8-14 hours per night, depending on their age. For example, a 1-year-old toddler requires more sleep than a 13-year-old.
A good night’s sleep allows the body time to rest and protects the body from injury and illness. Additionally, well-rested children wake alert and ready to handle the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

Eat Healthy Foods From the Rainbow

When we say eat from the rainbow, we do not mean holiday cookies, candies and other colourful sugary treats. This means teaching your children to eat a well-balanced diet comprised of eating healthy fruits and vegetables in assorted colours. Think blue blueberries, green spinach, yellow and red peppers, orange carrots and any other colourful fruit or vegetable that’s high in healthy vitamins.
Sure, you’re all going to eat sugary sweets during the holiday season, but if you eat them in moderation, your body will thank you for it. When you fuel your body with healthy foods, it’s better equipped to fight off infection and illness, such as the cold and flu.

Get Nutritional Support

A well-balanced diet is high in lean proteins, whole grains, fibre, healthy fats, and plenty of vegetables and fruits. However, we know that it’s hard to eat the right things during the busy holiday season. Consider enlisting the help of a home nurse to help customise a nutritional plan to help you through the holidays.

Nightingale DHA registered home nurses can help you create nutrition plans that will keep you and your children healthy through the holiday season and beyond. Additionally, your home nurse can also work with your childcare providers and nannies to ensure that they are promoting a healthy lifestyle for your children.

Stick to the above tips to keep your children and family healthy during the holiday season. If you need a few more tips, contact the professionals at Nightingale to speak with one of our registered nurses. Stay healthy and Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

Categories
Palliative Care

Benefits of Palliative Care

 

Benefits of Palliative Care
Benefits of Palliative Care

Our palliative care nurses can help your loved one to rest comfortably while they work through their illness, regardless of the stage of their diagnosis.

When a loved one becomes seriously ill, there are so many questions and concerns to take into consideration. It is a difficult, emotional and emotionally stressful time for not only the patient but also for their family and loved ones. Ultimately, we want our loved one to rest comfortably while they work through their illness, regardless of the stage of their diagnosis. In home, palliative care nurses can help.

What is Palliative Care?

Palliative care (pronounced pal-lee-uh-tiv) is specialized medical care for individuals suffering from serious illness. The focus of palliative care providers is on quality of life and integrating the physical, psychological, spiritual, and social aspects of care. Palliative care is applicable for any age; at any stage of serious illness. This specialized care is provided by a trained medical professional, typically a registered nurse, together with their curative treatment plan.

Is Hospice Palliative Care?

Hospice is a type of palliative care provided when curative treatment is no longer desired or beneficial, and when life expectancy is estimated in months (or less). Hospice supports patients and their families while focusing on symptom relief and comfort during the end of life phase of a serious illness.

Unlike hospice, which focuses on the end of life care, palliative care can be provided whether the patient is suffering from a potentially curable, chronic, or life-threatening illness. Regardless of the illness or diagnosis, palliative care focuses on providing patients with relief and release from the stress and symptoms associated with a serious illness.

The goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life not only for the patient but also for their family and loved ones. A palliative care team works with a patient and their family to define goals of care based on the patient’s values and what is medically applicable for their specific illness.

Who Needs Palliative Care?

Regardless of age, any individual suffering from a serious, chronic, or terminal illness can benefit from a palliative care plan. Palliative care focuses on symptoms such as pain management, shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, depression, difficulty sleeping, and more. It also helps patients gain the strength and will to proceed with their daily routine while alleviating the emotional stress for family and personal caregivers.

Benefits of palliative care include:

  • Medically trained professionals to manage medical, social, emotional, and spiritual care to improve quality of life during treatment.
  • Guidance and support in dealing with individual healthcare needs and the healthcare system.
  • Individualised palliative care plans provided in the comforts of your home, or other outpatient treatment facility.
  • Relief of emotional stress for the patient and their loved ones.
  • Expert treatment and monitoring of symptoms and pain.
  • Alleviating the side effects of curative treatments (such as relieving nausea associated with chemotherapy, etc.).
  • A holistic approach focusing on all aspects of the patient’s life and well-being (i.e. physical, social, emotional and spiritual).
  • Taking back control of your care by improving your understanding of treatment options.
  • Caregiver support provided by medically licensed nurses with access to community resources.
  • Reduction or elimination of unwanted hospital visits.

Palliative Care Home Nursing Services

At Nightingale Home Nursing, we deliver a compassionate approach to the end of life care, enhancing the quality of remaining life and enabling you to live your life as fully and as comfortably as possible. Our palliative care home nursing service offers a more dignified and comfortable approach than provided in the hospital. Our goal is to provide comfort and quality of life in your home environment, relieving stress for both the patient and their family.

Nightingale DHA registered nurses provided palliative care to make your experience less stressful. Through our holistic approach, our nurses will monitor symptoms and medications, and help educate both patient and their family about what is happening through the course of their diagnosis and treatments. Palliative care nurses also serve as a link between the patient, their family, and the physician.

Please contact us to learn more about how our palliative care home nursing services can help with your care.

Categories
Maternity Care Post-Cesarean Care

Maternity Nurses and Midwives: What to Expect

Maternity Nurses and Midwives
Maternity Nurses and Midwives

There are so many things to consider when caring for a newborn baby. The professional assistance of a maternity nurse will help you through the new experience.

The first months of becoming a new parent are all at once exciting and daunting. There are few things in life to compare to the pure joy of bringing your child home for the first. There are also so many things to consider when caring for a newborn baby. Throw in a perpetual lack of sleep or a difficult birthing experience and you might want to consider enlisting the professional assistance of a maternity nurse or midwife.

What is a Maternity Nurse?

A professional, qualified, registered nurse or midwife specializes in care for newborn babies and postnatal mothers. A maternity nurse provides nurturing, professional support, care and education for new parents on how to care for their newborn baby. They also provide parents the opportunity to rest and recover from the birth of their child.

A maternity nurse or maternity midwife is a knowledgeable, experienced, DHA registered healthcare professional who specializes in providing fundamental advice, support, care and relief to parents and newborn babies. They help ensure the first few weeks with a new baby are a smooth, comfortable, relaxed and highly delightful experience for everyone involved. Their assistance provides parents valuable time to rest and recover from the birth of their bundle of joy. They empower new parents to feel comfortable and confident in their ability to care for their new baby once the maternity nurse leaves.

Duties of a Maternity Nurse

Maternity nurses and midwives perform a wide range of duties aimed at providing relief and comfort for parents and their new baby. Based on your specific needs and requirements, they can provide care and observation 24-hours a day.

In the case of premature birth, you can request a nurse that has been trained in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). These specialized nurses are experts in providing the specific care required for nurturing a premature baby.

Maternity nurse duties:

  • DHA registered maternity nurses and midwives provide fundamental advice and guidance about feeding, bathing, clothing, and establishing routines and sleep habits for newborn babies. They also physically perform all of these duties with you, addressing all of your questions and concerns.
  • For those mothers breastfeeding, maternity nurses will observe, encourage and advise on breastfeeding, as well as provide breast care in the event of a  mild complication (such as a clogged duct).
  • For those mothers bottle-feeding, maternity nurses help ensure all feeding equipment is clean, sterilized and ready for use day and night.
  • Maternity nurses check on the baby’s well-being and growth and assist with mother’s post-natal recovery (to include post-circumcision care).
  • Maternity nurses will care for your baby, allowing you time to rest and recover, to include feeding, bathing, changing nappies and soothing the infant when they cry.
  • For those families with big brothers and sisters, maternity nurses also help integrate the new baby into the family, providing a smooth transition into the new family environment.
  • Night time maternity nurses and midwives, help establish essential sleep routines for the baby. They wake during the evening to feed and change the baby, allowing the parents to experience a good night’s sleep.

Types of In Home Maternity Care

Each family has their own unique needs, requirements, and schedules. Depending on your circumstances, a maternity nurse can come during the day or night. In some cases the maternity nurse can live with your family during the duration of their contract, providing 24-hour care and assistance after the baby is born.

Daily Maternity Nurses: can work up to 12 hours a day; up to six days a week. Daily maternity nurses are an ideal option for families unable to provide live-in accommodations for their maternity nurse.

Night-only Maternity Nurses: work during the night and early morning hours, up to 6 days a week. They provide essential relief and support for parents who are looking for extra sleep or for those situations where the baby is frequently waking during the night.

Live-in Maternity Nurses: reside in your home, in their own living quarters. They provide round the clock care and assistance for new parents and their baby.

Is a Maternity Nurse the Same as a Maternity Nanny?

No. While some of the duties performed by a maternity nanny are similar to that of a maternity nurse or midwife; a maternity nanny is not a registered medical professional. Maternity nurses and midwives are DHA registered and medically trained to care for postnatal mothers and their newborn babies. They are trained to administer medications, treat postpartum depression, provide advice on breastfeeding and much more. A maternity nanny is simply an in-home childcare provider without medical training.

Regardless of whether you require a maternity nurse a few hours a day, during the night or around the clock, Nightingale Home Nursing has a plan that will fit your needs. We take pride in knowing that our DHA registered nurses and midwives provide parents with the nurturing support and care they need to rest easy knowing their newborn will be cared for by a professional, experienced, licensed nurse or midwife in the comforts of their home. Contact the Registered Maternity Nurses and Midwives at Nightingale to learn more about how we can help you welcome your new baby!

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