Nursing into the Future: The Value of Delivering Care in the Home
Experience matters. It’s true in all aspects of life and certainly true in healthcare. Over the years, we’ve seen patients grow into consumers, who now actively seek out value through lower costs and better results.
Beyond consumerism, an improved patient experience leads to better value. Value for patients. Value for health plans.
So where does the nurse fit into this equation?
A simple answer—the nurse is the heartbeat of healthcare.
While technology and processes continue to change in healthcare, the power of the nurse has not changed. Nurses are the frontline of wellness, and are the caring touch in a difficult moment. Nurses are the path to healing.
In an increasingly complex future, that means nursing will be relied on more heavily. It also means nursing is moving out of the in-patient setting and into the home.
This trend has expanded to wound care. We need to remove patients from the more expensive in-patient setting, while removing the barriers that often block treatment at wound clinics. Delivering wound care in the home ensures consistent treatments and removes the transportation challenges that plague many chronic wound patients.
Here are three wound care stats that show where we are from the nurse’s point of view.
On average, it takes 120 days for a wound to heal
From a patient’s perspective that is a long time. Patients want relief from chronic wounds and nurses want to supply that relief. Most nurses got into the profession to help patients. It is what drives them day in and day out. When they see poor results and lackluster outcomes, they want to do better for the patient. Recognizing the strength of in-home care can have a clear impact on patients and the wound care industry as a whole. At Esperta Health, we can lower the heal time, on average, to 86.4 days for all wound types. That is a tangible result that excites nurses about in-home wound care.
The national RN turnover rate is 22.5%
That’s a high number. The effect of a global pandemic followed by the Great Resignation had a major impact on healthcare staffing retention rates. It continues to be a challenge for healthcare administrators, even though the RN retention rate has decreased slightly in the past year. On the home health side of the business, retention rates paint a bleak picture. Including LPNs and aides, home health is seeing a 28% turnover rate. Many experts attribute that to schedule, compensation and burnout challenges.
As a wound care solution that provides care in the home, Esperta is empowering nurses to deliver meaningful care to patients. With new technology solutions, we can give them the tools they need to make an impact and feel confident about practicing to the top of their license. Feeling good about being on the forefront of innovating wound care will have a major impact on retention in both the long and short term.
Wound Clinics see a nearly 50% no-show rate
Patients with chronic wounds need regular touchpoints to ensure their wounds are healing properly. Too often, patients miss appointments and do not complete their treatment plan, which can lead to wound recurrence or increased healing times. Bringing wound-certified nurses into the home, removes transportation barriers and ensures patients get the treatment they need when they need it.
The importance of nursing in wound care cannot be overstated. The healing touch and compassion from experienced nurses drives the treatment of chronic wounds. As we take nursing into the future, there is value to bringing wound-certified nurses into the home, ensuring consistency and quality of the care provided. Patients will see better results and nurses will be empowered to make a direct impact on the lives of patients. The future of healthcare leans heavily on nursing. In wound care, that means taking nurses out of the in-patient setting and clinic to deliver better outcomes in the home.