Having a stroke is a life-changing event for both the stroke survivor and you: their family. Suddenly, you go from being a loved one to a caregiver for someone with multiple care needs. These needs require comprehensive assessment, care planning, and implementation, which is best assisted by those with specialized medical training — something no caregiver is expected to have.
What’s more, you are still you, with your career, financial, and broader family responsibilities. This often means that you, as a caregiver, may experience a variety of individual, interpersonal, and organizational issues when trying to meet your loved one’s care needs alone.
Having a committed care team, including a private duty nurse to provide nursing care after a stroke to your loved one, can help prevent them from experiencing another stroke while setting them up to thrive at home. Here’s why:
You, Alone, May Not Be Able to Provide Comprehensive Nursing Care for a Stroke
There are two types of strokes, and recovery from a stroke is dependent upon the type, severity, and location. No matter the type, a stroke frequently impacts your loved one beyond the physical.
The injuries their brain has incurred are not only tangible, such as changes in how they move or speak, but you may also notice changes in their mood, reasoning, and memory; at times, they may seem like a different person.
As your loved one continues to recover at home, their injuries and how they present will vary. As a result, the needs and resources needed to ensure your loved one is set up to thrive will evolve and change, often requiring an ongoing, extra layer of skilled assessment, planning, and comprehensive care beyond what you, their family member and caregiver, can provide.
That is where Navi Nurses can help with home health. Our network of in-home nurses are expert practitioners with real-world hospital experience who know exactly what to look for and how to address the most subtle of changes. They have the specialized skills to handle changes and challenges for you and your loved one at every step of post-stroke care.
How Can Private Duty Nurses Provide Nursing Care for Your Loved One After a Stroke?
Private Duty Nurses Can Support Your Loved Ones’ Physical Needs
Private duty nurses within our specialized nurse network are trained to assess, plan, implement, monitor, and review your loved ones’ medical status post-stroke.
This includes:
- Mobility, falls prevention and education, and therapy needs
- Medications and prescription management
- Medication education
- Monitoring for deterioration, further strokes, or seizures
- Assessment of adequate nutritional intake and speech
Navi in-home nurses do this with expert skill, care, and compassion from the comfort of your home. They go beyond the current or obvious issues to provide proactive, comprehensive medical expertise and care, and they involve you in the decision-making every step of the way.
Once they have assessed your loved one’s needs, they can also support you as a family to determine how best to meet them by providing a variety of recommendations to choose from. As a family, you will ultimately decide what feels right and best for you.
Private duty nurses are equipped with knowledge of adjunct therapies required to help your loved one’s recovery while caring for their medical details. They can also advise on stroke-specific therapies, such as physical, occupational, and speech therapies, available to enhance recovery.
They also know that finances can be hard to balance, and insurance providers often lack transparency around accessing services. So, don’t worry — they have insider knowledge of cost-effective ways for your loved one to access the services they need.
Knowing that your loved one has a Navi Nurse partner monitoring and assessing their condition, pre-empting changes, and adjusting their care plan is a relief for family members, whether they are medical professionals themselves or not.
Private Duty Nurses Can Support Your Loved Ones’ Emotional Needs
After their stroke, your loved one is likely to experience emotional and behavioral changes. They may become forgetful and careless, quick to anger, and have trouble grasping new concepts. They may also feel anxious and depressed, and they may cry or laugh at odd times or withdraw from you and their surroundings.
This can be one of the most difficult challenges to face as a loving and concerned family member. You may struggle to manage their complex feelings, support them in their experience, and find new ways to interact with them. It can also begin to take a toll on your relationship, which is exactly what our nurses hope to help you, as a family, avoid.
Our private duty nurses will provide you with individualized support, educate you, and help you understand why these changes are happening. They can also offer tips on responding to your loved one’s needs in this new landscape of being a caregiver.
Over time, your Navi Nurse team becomes an invaluable, trusted extension of the family, providing expert nursing care for stroke while offering support beyond your loved one’s medical details.
Your In-Home Nurse Team Will Also Support You – Because Your Loved One’s Stroke Doesn’t Only Affect Them
Making it home after a stroke is a significant milestone. But, as your loved one returns home, you may feel both excited and worried about your new role as their caregiver.
That’s why Navi Nurses home health registered nurses (RNs) engage family members in co-creating care models as a core component of nursing care after a stroke, ensuring you feel supported, informed, and confident in supporting your loved ones’ next steps.
Education & Upskilling
You may or may not get clear discharge instructions on how to care for your loved one at home. You may find you didn’t understand all the instructions or may have forgotten something. Additionally, unforeseen things about the suitability of the home environment may come up.
Or, answers may be hard to find without a nurse nearby when you have a question. This is where we, Navi Nurses, can help.
Caregivers often report feeling uncertain and unprepared for their role once their loved one is home. Navi Nurses understands further caregiver education and upskilling is the key to feeling more empowered in a caregiver experience. Hiring a private duty nurse gives caregivers a valuable educational resource so you never feel like you are missing something or doing something wrong.
In-home nurses also deliver or reinforce the education you have already received. They will do this as often as you need until you feel confident and prepared. Moreover, because Navi’s RN partners see each client as a person and not a number, they will specifically educate you on what your loved one requires.
This ensures you understand where they are at, what they need, and how you can continue supporting them throughout their recovery journey.
Once the private duty nurse educates you on what your loved one needs, they can upskill you to meet these carer responsibilities. This is as much about your loved one’s recovery as it is about you learning how to deliver care. The more involved you are, the more confident you will become.
Caregiver Support
As a caregiver, you are committing to providing long-term support to your loved one’s stroke recovery and rehabilitation. But who looks after you? Your Navi Nurse team!
The Navi Nurses RN network is not just there to teach you. They will also provide you with the education and support you need to care for yourself — because you are just as important as your loved one. Private duty nurses provide an impartial, professional ear during your transition from family member to caregiver. They can help you juggle competing priorities, navigate family dynamics, and even assist in formulating rosters for caregivers.
They can also help you find respite services for your loved one. Respite from physical and physiological caregiving responsibilities is key. It helps you avoid being personally impacted by your role as a caregiver, provides you with a well-deserved break, and allows you to continue providing optimum care for your loved one.
Want to Know More About In-Home Nursing Care After a Stroke?
Ready to hire a private duty nurse in Phoenix and co-create a care plan? Call us at (480) 630-0808 or reach out today. You’ll be heard by a medical professional right away.
