Differentiating Care Management and Case Management
When patients need home care, they may address proprietary agencies for care and case management and hire a nurse to assist with daily living activities. Case management is developing and coordinating care for a particular client according to the existing policies. Case managers help patients overcome significant barriers and complete administrative work (Taylor et al., 2020). Care management is defined as coordinating a healthcare plan or process to integrate all the necessary services cost-effectively (Taylor et al., 2020).
Understanding Proprietary Agencies in Home Healthcare
Among various organizations that contribute to home care management, the client in the chosen case decides to work with a proprietary agency. It is a private for-profit facility governed by individuals or national corporations who define services they may offer to their clients.
Examples of Skilled and Nonskilled Nursing Care
To ensure home care is of the necessary quality, one should differentiate between skilled and non-skilled nursing care regarding medical needs. Skilled nurses are responsible for medication administration, wound care, and meeting all prescribed medical needs. Non-skilled nurses are home care providers who are hired to fulfill the everyday needs of older patients. Thus, the example of skilled nursing care is injections and control of medication intake, while the example of non-skilled nursing care, in this case, is helping with eating the correct food.
Developing a Comprehensive Care Plan in a Case Study
Case Description
You are caring for an elderly client with diabetes, recovering from heart surgery and pneumonia. The patient has mobility issues, leg cramps, and struggles with daily activities, receiving two hours of assistance daily from a proprietary agency. Nursing orders include wound care, diabetes education, and medication/diet management. The out-of-state daughter is concerned about her mother’s safety, citing issues with keys, diet, medication, and doctor visits. She requests help managing care.
Nursing Care Planning
In the case under analysis, the nurse should provide the patient with such services as wound care, education about diabetes, administration and management of new medications, and diet control. Additional referrals include cooperation with a nutritionist who defines the right and bad food for the patient.
Such areas as the patient’s poor support system (her daughter lives out of the state) and the client’s memory troubles should be addressed appropriately to ensure all necessary care aspects are covered. Making visual handouts and reminders and initiating regular phone calls to check on the client distantly is possible.
Reference
Taylor, C., Lynn, P., & Bartlett, J. L. (2020). Fundamentals of nursing: The art and science of person-centered care (9thed). Wolters Kluwer.