HOME VISITING

Ms. Neethu Vincent

Asst Professor
KVM college of Nursing
 Introduction
• A home visit is one of the essential parts of the
community health services because most of the
people are found in a home.
• Home visit fulfils the needs of individual, family
and community in general for nursing service
and health counselling.
• A home visit is considered as the backbone of
community health service.
• A home visit is a family –nurse contact which
allows the health worker to assess the home and
family situation in order to provide the necessary
nursing care and health-related a ctivities.
 Definition
• A home visit is defined as the process
of providing the nursing care to
patients at their doorsteps. It requires
technical skills, resourcefulness,
judgment, relationships.
• It is defined as providing the services
to family at their door step to
maintain the health & to reduce the
mortality & morbidity in family.
 Principle
1 . Based on needs of people :
Home visits should be made according to
needs of the people of family.
2. Before visiting family, collect information
pertaining to family :
Collect background information
regarding family in particular and community
in general i.e, information regarding family
size, occupation, income, religion,resources,
etc.
3. Use safe technical skills :
Make use of safe technical skills while
providing care & services to family
4.Use kind & courteous approach :
The approach used towards family should
be kind & courteous in order to gain
confidence.
5. Planned &purposeful :
The home visit should be planned
before visiting and should have a
definite aim of visit such as provision of
MCH service
6. Regularity :
Home visits should be conducted at
regular intervals so that maximum
cooperation of the selected units or
family can be acquired.
7. Flexibility :
There should be flexibility in home
visits. There is always a possibility that
owing to the prevailing circumstances at
home, the aim of home visit has to be
changed or cancelled.
8. Voluntary & convenient:
Home visits should be voluntary &
convenient for the family members.
During home visits people should be
motivated to accept the health aspects
voluntarily instead of forcefully imposing
one's concepts on them.
9. Interpersonal relationship :
Health assessment of family members
can be done, if interpersonal relationships
are good with family. Even the planned
procedures can be implemented effectively
with good interpersonal relationship. So,
the community health nurse should
establish interpersonal relationship with
family members.
10.Educative :
Community health nurse should ensure
that the family members should get
education regarding the health problems,
care & referral services.
11. Evaluative :
Home visits should be followed &
should be in continuity. The care pro-vided
or education given should be evaluated in
regular visits.
 AIMS OF HOME VISIT
• Protection against diseases
• Providing best possible nursing in
homely conditions
• Improving the health standard of family
• Monitoring the health problems and
diseases identified in health centers
,hospitals, factories, and school and
providing follow- up treatment
• Assessing the health , immunization,
nutrition level and environmental
hazards to a family
• Reducing the MMR and IMR by
providing maternal and child health
services
• Identifying the sources of
communicable diseases and alarming
the family about it
• Providing health education while
visiting or giving nursing at home.
Frequency of Home Visits :
• Frequency of home visits depend
upon following factors :
* Extend of health needs
* Extend of health problems
* Needs felt by family
* Family's ability to deal or cope with
health problem.
* Family's regularity in home visit.
 Purposes
• To find out needs of individual, family and
community in relation to health,
socioeconomic and cultural aspects.
• To provide domiciliary midwifery as care for
pregnant, delivery, and puerperal mother and
infant.
• To give care to the sick, to a postpartum mother
and her newborn with the view teach a
responsible family member to give subsequent
care.
• To assess the living condition of the patient and
his family and their health practices in order to
provide the appropriate health teachings
Phases and Activities of home visits

Phase I
Initiative phase
• Clarify source of referral for visit.
• Clarify purpose for home visit.
• Share information on reasons and
purpose of home visit with family.
Phase II
Pre visit phase
• Initiate contact with family.
• Establish shared perception of
purpose with family.
• Determine family willingness for
home visit.
• Schedule home visit.
• Review referral and or family record.
 
Phase 111
On home phase
• Introduction of self and professional
identification.
• Social interaction to establish
rapport.
• Establish nurse-client relation.
• Implement nursing process.
Phase IV
Termination phase
• Review visit with family.
• Plan for future visit.
Phase V
Post visit phase
• Record visit.
• Plan for next visit.
Process of home visiting
Planning for a visit

Fact finding

Examination & analysis of facts

Planning action with individual or family

Activities during visit

Evaluation of services
 Steps of home visiting
1. Plan your home visit according to
routine, high risk and post natal.
2. Take out family folder.
3. Note down important point to be
discussed with the family.
4. Inform village leader & anganwadi
worker about visit.
5. Prepare your community bag.
6. Keep all required article in bag
before going to visit.
7. Knock the door and ask the
permission.
8. Greet the family.
9. Introduce yourself to family.
10.Talk to every person in family.
11.Speak about the general things.
12.When you feel they ready to talk
about the reason for visit explain
about the visit.
13.Complement them for nice work.
14. Keep bag on mat, chair, stool.
15.Talk in the language which family
can speak.
16.Be sensitive to immediate needs of
the family.
17.Give incidental teaching to family.
18.Give instruction clear and in simple
word.
19. Listen patiently and carefully.
20.Try to answer all the questions.
21. Use safe technique.
22.Give only 2-3 health message at a
time.
23.Do not accept any gift or payment.
24.Record your activities.
25.Take appointment for next visit.
26. Report any important event to
authority.
27. Evaluate your visit.
Disadvantages of home visits :
• Expensive in time.
• Equipment of the clinic cannot be carried
at home.
• The person appointed may not be found.
• Home visit does not provide an opportunity
for the family to share experiences to them
who have the same problem.
• Destruction in the home makes
construction difficult inaccessibility.
Role of community health nurse in home
nursing:
• Recording the history of family to ascertain the
cause and duration of illness.
• Providing treatment and related care.
• Demonstrating the nursing procedure to educate
the family members.
• Giving medicines as per the standing orders and
providing essential nursing care in the grave
situations.
• Supervising the nursing procedures provided by
family members.
• Including the patient himself in taking care of
chronic illness (heart, arthritis, cancer, diabetic
patients, etc) and giving them mental support.
 YOU
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