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Home Health Nursing: A QSEN Approach With Resources

Performance Metrics

Decorative image of Nurse helping a senior

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jgs.14987/full
- This research article evaluates the performance metrics of various home health organizations by identifying twenty-two quality indicators and comparing them between these organizations. The abstract of this article is initially displayed. To access the whole article, you can purchase instant access by either renting, buying through cloud, or downloading as a PDF. Other options for accessing this content include becoming a society or association member or if you have access from various institutions.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28971884?log$=activity
- A research article published on PubMed that identifies a trigger tool that helps to identify adverse events that affect patients receiving home health care. The abstract of this article is initially displayed. To access the full article for free, select the “open access full text” tab under “full text links”.
https://www.medicare.gov/homehealthcompare/Data/Measuring-Agency-Performance.html
- The official United States Government site for Medicare suggests different methods for measuring home health agency performance. In doing so this will help you as both an employee and patient choose a home health agency that meets your needs the best. Such methods include star ratings for quality of patient care and patient experience of care, process measures, and outcome measures.
https://guidingmetrics.com/content/home-health-industrys-12-most-critical-metrics/
- This article identifies twelve critical metrics that every home health industry should keep track of, excluding profits and sales. Each metric that is identified includes a description of what the metric is, how it can be calculated, and why the metric is important to keep track of. A visual graph is also included to show how each metric can be displayed or analyzed.

By: Ryan Baker and JP Slykas

Welcome to our quality and safety education for nurses (QSEN) website! We hope that this website serves as an educational tool or reference that you can use to better understand home health nursing, get more involved in its profession, and learn about quality and safety concerns to ultimately provide optimal patient care. In doing so, patients will be benefitted as well as they will receive optimal home health care from their nurses.

Feel free to click on any of the topic-tabs above to learn more about each category pertaining to home health care. Clicking on any one of these topic-tabs will redirect you to various resources that you can then access to learn more about each category selected.

Safety

https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3148.pdf
- This OSHA publication focuses on preventing workplace violence for all nurses who provide care for patients. These guidelines cover a broad spectrum of nurses but categorize many trends and recommendations based on specific areas of practice, including home health nursing.
https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/home_healthcare/index.html:
- This source provided by OSHA provides several topics related to safety information for nurses. It is specific to home health nursing and includes several links on its webpage that can take you to specific safety information. Such topics/links are provided below:
  1. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2010-125/pdfs/2010-125.pdf
    - This publication by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) teaches home health nurses about occupational hazards in home health care and ways these hazards can be prevented. Such topics include musculoskeletal disorders, blood borne pathogens, violence, etc.
  2. https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2010/04/16/homehealthcare/
    - Focuses specifically on musculoskeletal injuries, the most common injuries for home health workers, and preventable measures for both employers and employees.
  3. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2012-121/pdfs/2012-121.pdf
    - A fact sheet that home health workers can use to identify and prevent unsafe work conditions, which include sanitation, temperatures, water and pets.
  4. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2012-122/pdfs/2012-122.pdf
    - A fact sheet that home health workers can use to identify and prevent driving related injuries.
  5. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2012-123/pdfs/2012-123.pdf
    - A fact sheet that home health workers can use to identify and prevent needle stick and sharps related injuries.
  6. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2012-119/pdfs/2012-119.pdf
    - A fact sheet that home health workers can use to identify and prevent latex allergies related injuries.
  7. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2012-120/pdfs/2012-120.pdf
    - A fact sheet that home health workers can use to identify and prevent musculoskeletal related injuries.
  8. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2012-118/pdfs/2012-118.pdf
    - A fact sheet that home health workers can use to identify and prevent violence on the job.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25595487?log$=activity
- A research article published on PubMed that studies the relationship between violence against home health workers and its effects on poor patient outcomes. The abstract of the article is initially displayed. To access the full article for free, select one of the two options under “full text links”.

Quality Improvement

http://www.homehealthquality.org/Education/Best-Practices.aspx
1. Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) operates its own website and includes best practice interventions to educate healthcare professionals about the best available practices derived from research. Each topic is centered around various health issues and can accessed by clicking on which topic best interests you. Educational material includes online modules and videos. Registration to HHQI University or payment is required in order to access full content for this source.
http://www.homehealthquality.org/Home.aspx
1. Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) homepage will get you started with information about its program that aims to improve the quality of home health care for patients. This source provides you with news and updates about quality improvement as well as campaign resources that help educate healthcare professionals regarding best practices.
http://journals.lww.com/homehealthcarenurseonline/pages/default.aspx
1. Home Healthcare and Medicare Fraud Strike Force brings attention to fraud in Home healthcare. In this article, statistics are discussed about where fraud is taking place, how many people are affected, and how much this can cost due to improper payments. With the rise of home health care, fraud can be a devastating event to those in need of Home Healthcare.
http://www.ismp.org/
1. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices is a great website for resources about medication. This website offers information about Education and awareness, news and events, industry, FDA medication safety alerts, and provides medication safety tools that can be utilized for home health care.
http://qsen.org/
1. The QSEN institute is run by Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University and stands for Quality and Safety Education for Nurses. The goal of QSEN is to provide education to nurses to improve quality and safety within the Healthcare setting.

Professional Organizations

https://www.nahc.org/
- The National Association for Home Care and Hospice serves the interests of the elderly, terminally ill and caregivers who provide services to them. Part of their mission is to provide the highest quality of home care, whether it be for hospice or not. Become a member and you can learn more about its core values and how you can get involved in its organization and best practices.
https://www.aahomecare.org/
- The American Association of Homecare works to supply and strengthen access to home healthcare to Americans who are in need of such services. This organization lobbies Congress and various organizations to make sure federal programs are fair and favorable for homecare environments. Become a member and you can become actively involved in lobbying for equal or better home healthcare policies.
http://www.achc.org/home-health-links.html
- This resource serves as a reference for anyone interested in learning more about some of the state and federal organizations related to home healthcare. Accessing this website will provide you with links to some, but not all, national and state home health associations.
  1. http://www.ochch.org/aws/OCHCH/pt/sp/home_page
    - The Ohio Council for Home for Home Care and Hospice, which can be accessed from the link above, helps to represent health care at home for the state of Ohio. Become a member of this organization and you can have access to legislative news and updates, updates based on your home health agency, and education opportunities to learn the best available practices and techniques for home healthcare.
http://www.vnaa.org/
- The Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) is a professional organization whose vision is to transform homecare for health care workers and patients in the community. Professionals and teams in this organization coordinate programs to address and solve current issues that healthcare workers face in the community. Become a member of this organization and you can learn more about how you can become involved and help coordinate some of these issues.
http://ihcno.org/
- The International Home Care Nurses Organization (IHCNO) is an international organization that helps transform home-based healthcare worldwide. To achieve this, they focus on two initiatives: attracting researchers and policy makers and creating a LinkedIn discussion group aimed at answering questions and addressing home-based care internationally. Register today for a free webinar about international guidelines for home health nursing. You can also join the LinkedIn discussion group by creating a LinkedIn account and/or becoming a member.
http://www.hcaoa.org/
- The Home Care Association of America (HCAOA) represents thousands of companies that staff over 500,000 workers across the United States. This organization is very influential in state and federal policies and helps connect its members to various programs and educational information. You have the choice between which membership plan best suits your needs and interests. Such plans include voting, additional location, associate, and individual membership.
http://hhna.org/
- The Home Healthcare Nurses Association (HHNA) is a national professional nursing organization that is involved in both home health care and hospice nursing. One of their goals is to recognize the value of home health nursing, which can be achieved through their Nurse of the Year Program. Become a member as a registered nurse and/or a student and you can become active in congressional policies related to home health and hospice and help establish the best care practices for these fields of nursing.
http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/Publications/No-Place-Like-Home-Advancing-Safety-of-Care-in-the-Home.aspx
- Learn about Safety in the home from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Organizations

Miscellaneous / Medicare

https://www.medicare.gov/what-medicare-covers/home-health-care/home-health-care-what-is-it-what-to-expect.html#4839
- This sources gives insight into what home health care is and how it may differ from a skilled home health service. Medicare.gov also identifies what those who require home health care should expect as well as what home health care staff should do for those who qualify for Medicare.
https://www.medicareinteractive.org/get-answers/medicare-covered-services/home-health-care-benefit-part-a-and-b/types-of-home-health-care-that-medicare-will-pay-for
- Another resource for information about Medicare, medicareinteractive.org can be used as a source to see what Medicare will and will not cover for home health services. It can also be used to see or compare how much it does cover for those who qualify for Medicare.
https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/home-health-services.html
- Medicare.gov provides information about your Medicare coverage and your options of home health services with Medicare. On this page, it also provides information about how often these services are covered, who is eligible, and how much it will cost the patient. This resource can also be accessed through the medicare.gov homepage but can be accessed as a shortcut through this link.

Quality and Safety Education for Nurses