Home Safety (Nursing)

00:01 Hi, I'm Joanna Jackson! I'm a registered nurse, and today, we’re going to talk about home safety. Home safety is really important in nursing. It’s important because nurses go out into the community and are in the home care environment. But also, nurses in hospitals and outpatient centers need to know these concepts in order to provide appropriate patient education. Home care is a challenging environment because the home setting has a variety of variables that are outside of the caregiver’s control. Things like household hazards, access to equipment and supplies, and you have less control of the conditions. It’s important for the nurse to create an environment of safety. The home environment includes all things, both physical and psychosocial that can positively or negatively affect the health, wellness, and safety of both patients and caregivers. These include things like the home temperature, heating and cooling, toxic substances, lead paint, cleaning substances, risk management, seizures, falls, and fire safety, safety equipment and shower chairs, transfer boards and lifts. It’s a nursing priority to protect patients from harm. A big major concept of this is fall precautions.

01:22 Examine patient’s walking paths, secure cords, loose materials and rugs, encourage the use of handrails, clean spills, and ensure appropriate lighting. Seizure precautions are equally as important. Cushioned floor coverings, leave interior doors unlocked so that you can get in in case of an emergency, remove glass and sharp objects from common areas. And during a seizure, never force anything into the patient’s mouth. Turn the patient on their side to prevent aspiration and place something soft under their head to prevent injury. Home fire safety is really important in this environment. Make sure you understand all the concepts, preventative measures, and what to do in case there is a fire.

02:07 Check home smoke alarms regularly. Escape planning should be done before emergency. And place fire extinguishers in convenient and well-known locations. RACE is an acronym we use in fire safety; rescue, alarm, confine, and evacuate. Rescue anyone in immediate danger without putting yourself in harm’s way. Alarm means sound alarm. Call the police or emergency vehicles. Confine the smoke. If you can, close interior doors. And evacuate everyone to safety.

02:44 PASS is the acronym we use when using fire extinguishers. PASS stands for Pull, Aim, Squeeze, and Sweep. Practice that in a mirror or in front of your friends. As always, the nursing process is really important and it’s no different in home safety. The nurse should always conduct an assessment. Assess the risk of safety hazards in the home. Identify current environmental influences. Assess patient’s perceptions of needs and risks. Identify histories of falls, seizures, and other safety accidents. And review medication history to identify increased risk. Some common nursing diagnosis that are relevant for home safety includes risk for injury, impaired walking, impaired transfer ability, impaired bed mobility, impaired home maintenance, readiness for enhanced self-care, and risk for falls. Here are some quick tips for success. Always assess, diagnose, plan, and then implement. Always assess before taking action. If two answers feel correct, reread the question and pick the answer that is most correct. And opposites attract. If two answers are complete opposites, are worded very similarly with two opposite actions, the answer is usually in one of those options.