Every year, over 800,000 people in the U.S. succumb to cardiovascular disease. It’s estimated that 11 percent of the adult population has heart disease, which is around one out of every nine adults. Diet, exercise, and stress control are leading ways to reduce your risk.
What if your mom has heart disease and needs surgery? What can you do to ensure her recovery goes smoothly? Talk to her doctor as soon as possible about the benefits of home health care nurses following heart surgery.
The Ways Home Health Care Services Help Out
After your mom’s surgery, she’ll be in the hospital for a few days. At that point, she’ll probably recover best if she’s in her home with her own furnishings and other belongings. She’ll want to sleep in her bed rather than a narrow hospital bed.
Skilled nursing services are important for her recovery. Start with the wound care. Your mom will have an incision to keep clean and dry. Nurses can change those dressings as needed and look for signs of infection. If there is an infection, nurses alert the doctor and come up with a treatment plan.
That treatment plan may require injections or IV medications. If antibiotics are needed, the nurse can administer them in the home. It keeps your mom from having to go back to the hospital and risk additional infections.
Home health care services include patient and family caregiver education. Your mom’s diet will change. She’ll need to be careful about what she eats, and it can be hard to change old habits.
She’ll work at home with a dietitian who will teach her what to look for on labels and what foods she should avoid. Family caregivers also learn these dietary changes. This makes it easier for everyone to get on the same page when it comes to cooking meals and snacks.
Home Health Care Helps Her Recovery and Regain Independence
Your mom is going to have exercises to complete to build stamina without straining her heart. She’ll work on these exercises with a physical therapist. She may also need the help of occupational therapists to learn how to do things she used to do in ways that are safe after her surgery.
The goal of home health care is to help your mom recover and regain her independence. With time and hard work, she’ll be back to her usual routines. Talk to her doctor about arranging home health care services when she’s released.
Sources:
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/all-publications-and-resources/know-differences-cardiovascular-disease-heart-disease-coronary-heart-disease
If you or an aging loved one is considering home health care in Castle Rock, CO, please contact the caring staff at SYNERGY HomeCare today at 303-953-9924.
