One out of every 16 women aged 20 or older has coronary heart disease. Almost half of these cases are tied to other factors like diabetes, excessive drinking, obesity, poor diet, and a sedentary lifestyle.

From February 1st to the 7th, it’s Women’s Heart Week. For your family, this is also a stressful time as you’re learning all of this. Your mom is about to undergo heart surgery, and you don’t know what to do first.

Her cardiologist has a lot of information to share. One of the first things you need to do is arrange post-hospital care. When your mom has a nurse supporting her recovery at home, it lowers the chances of her returning to the hospital. Here are the services you want from a home health care agency.

Vitals

Your mom’s pulse, breathing rate, oxygen saturation levels, and blood pressure have to be monitored. Her nurse may also take her temperature each day to monitor for a fever. These readings are recorded and shared with the cardiology team.

Wound/Incision Care

The incision after heart surgery can be large. It requires care to keep it clean and bandaged and reduce the risk of infection. Your mom cannot lift anything heavy and strain the surgical glue, staples, or stitches.

A nurse can change bandages, examine how it’s healing, and keep in touch with her surgeon to provide updates. If your mom’s incision doesn’t look right, her nurse works with her cardiology team to address the next steps, which might be antibiotics or a return to the hospital.

IV Medications and Fluids

Many of the initial medications your mom will take are given through an IV. Antibiotics and pain medications have to be administered properly. With a post-hospital care nurse assisting your mom, she doesn’t have to travel to a clinic or medical office.

Physical Therapy

Your mom needs to slowly get back to her routines. She needs to learn what exercises she can do and what she needs to avoid. She’ll work with a physical therapist to build strength and stamina without straining her heart.

Medication Administration

Post-hospital care nurses will help your mom with medications. She’s going to need to take medications for her heart, but she also needs to keep up with pain management. She doesn’t want to become overly reliant on her pain medications either, so the timing of each dose must be carefully monitored.

Heart Health Education

Your mom may need to change her dietary habits. If she’s used to ready-made foods and freezer meals, these aren’t the best options. Your family will want to learn how to make heart-healthy meals in order to support her in grocery stores.

Arrange these services by making a call to a home health care agency. Talk to the advisor about your mom’s post-hospital care needs and share more about the things her cardiologist recommends. You’ll learn more about prices, find out if Medicare or health care insurance will cover services at all (if it does, there are usually restrictions)l, and make arrangements.

If you or an aging loved-one is considering Post-Hospital Care in Palm Beach County, FL please contact the caring staff at Elite Senior Home Care today. (561) 570-6613

Elite Senior Home Care provides Home Medical Equipment!
Visit www.EliteMedicalSupplyFL.com

Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/women.htm