HOME NURSE

1. If you are a good home nurse, what are the various home nursing techniques that you need to apply that will make the patient feel comfortable and speed up the recovery?

           If I were to be a good home nurse, I should always make the bed properly, occupied or not, I should take vital signs of the patient accurately and regularly, and I should bathe the patient so that he or she would feel comfortable.

2. Why should the home nurse monitor the vital signs of the patient?
       
           The home nurse should monitor the vital signs of the patient so that he would know the  blood pressure, body temperature, pulse rate, and respiratory rate of the patient to know the condition of his body if he is improving or getting more ill.

3. How do you take the body temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure of the patient?

           There are instruments that one can use to measure the body temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure of the patient. For body temperature, I can use a thermometer, digital or mercury. For pulse rate,  I can use my finger in measuring my pulse in different areas (wrist, throat, ankle, or temple where a large artery is underneath the skin) but I prefer the wrist because it is more convenient. I can use a sphygmomanometer with the stethoscope to measure the blood pressure.  

4. What are some practices that the home nurse must follow that will promote comfort to the patient?

           The home nurse should make an occupied bed neatly, orderly, carefully, and gently so that the patient would not get dizzy or be more sick.            

5. How will you differentiate signs from symptoms of illnesses and diseases?

           Signs are what a doctor sees while symptoms are what the patient experiences.

6. If you are the doctor, what will be your basis in giving the diagnosis for your patient?

           My basis would be the vital signs, condition of the patient, and from what the patient will say.These would help me determine if there are symptoms of an illness that had occurred. The patient should tell me all of his/her symptoms and history so that I will have sufficient information to be able to know what illness had occurred.