After discharge from hospital

[SAgirl]

Anyone know if there is such thing as a nurse who pops in to look after patients with no family around, after they have had major surgery?

My dad had his open heart surgery on Wednesday, I'm here while he's in hospital and for a while after he comes home.

Problem is I've left dh home with my 2 young boys and dh can't afford to take any more time off work to look after them while I'm here.

Bringing them up here isn't an option as there isn't anywhere for them to stay and I don't have anything here like cot, car seats, pram, etc.

So, I have to go back soon, but the hospital staff have said he needs someone to be with him majority of the time in case of an emergency where he is unable to for eg ring the ambulance himself etc.

So I am wondering if there is a service where a nurse pops in to check on patients a few times a day over a period of a few weeks? He has made a couple of friends but after speaking to them now, I realise that neither are going to be very reliable....

I'm worried about leaving my dad and I don't know what else I can do....

[MrsA2B]

Is there a Hospital In The Home service available through the hospital? My sister had major surgery a couple of years ago and was given this service as she was living alone. A doctor came to check on her every day and there was a 24/7 call out service.

Failing that, could you hire a private nurse or carer for a short period of time? I just googled private carer hire and there were quite a few options, depending on where you are.

Otherwise, if paying someone isn't an option, perhaps try some of the local community or church organisations to see if they have any assistance programs.

Good luck and hope your dad recovers really well and quickly x

[LittleBug'sMum]

I'm not sure which state you're in, but in Victoria they have district nurses (RDNS) I think they're called, that do home visits, help with showering, giving out medication, well at least they used to many years ago when I lived in Victoria, not sure about the other states.

[LittleBug'sMum]

Check out this link: http://www.rdns.com.au/about-us/locations

[SAgirl]

Thanks he is in qld.

I'll look at the link, thanks!

Is it covered by Medicare?

[tamute]

Speak to the hospital staff they should be able to help you organize care for him and get him assed for in home care after you go. We had to go through a similar thing with my fil after my mil passed suddenly and she was his primary carer. They social worker at the hospital helped a lot with giving us the numbers of people to call to help with cleaning of house, taking shopping etc plus lots of other things which we haven't had to use yet. We also set him up with a company called vita call which is an in house monitoring system where he pushes a button if he has a fall/can't get up needs an ambulance etc. It goes back to a base who communicate through a speaker system and if they can't hear him they then call an ambulance as well as dh and his sister to let them know what has happened. Has been a life saver on a number of occasions. As he is on a pension he gets it a discounted rate of $150 per quarter

[ScubaGal]

http://www.health.qld.gov.au/townsvi.../TransCare.asp

Transition care should be available. Can cover nursing, domestic assistance etc

[ScubaGal]

Oops didn't mean to put the Townsville one there, but it should be available across Qld