Free Assessment by a Registered Nurse
Our assessments are conducted by experienced Registered Nurses, not coordinators or intake staff. The visit is at no charge and is specific to your parent's situation.
No ChargeWhat the nurse assesses
Your parent's assessment is specific to them. The Registered Nurse reviews many or all of the following during the visit.
- Mobility and balance: the Registered Nurse observes movement directly, not just through interview.
- Medications: multiple prescribers can create interactions. The nurse reviews all current medications.
- Medical history: insight into diagnoses, recent procedures, and physician instructions.
- Blood-work results: the nurse explains relevant values in plain language.
- Blood sugar: point-of-care readings can provide immediate clinical insight.
- Cognition: our Registered Nurses have years of experience assessing cognitive health.
- Environment: the home environment affects safety, independence, and care design.
Questions the nurse can answer
- Nutrition and hydration needs.
- What to expect as your parent's condition changes.
- How to access community supports and other services.
- What Eldercare Home Health provides and how much it costs.
- Any questions you bring to the visit.
The nurse may also recommend
- Services: trusted referrals to other community resources.
- Equipment or devices that can help with safety or independence.
- Programmes that may be available through the health system.
Next steps
After the assessment, we present a care plan with recommended hours, frequency, and caregiver type. You decide whether to proceed. There is no pressure to commit at the visit.
We provide this free assessment as part of ensuring that care starts right. Families who understand their loved one's needs make better decisions, and we are here to help with that.
The clinical difference an RN assessment makes
Get an assessment by a Registered Nurse so your parent's care starts off right. It is essential that your parent's assessment be provided by an experienced Registered Nurse. The assessment is a critical part of understanding your parent's current health status and care needs, so that we can create a care plan that is right for them. The assessment by a Registered Nurse is provided at no charge and is specific to your parent. We always provide an assessment by a Registered Nurse.
The Registered Nurse may assess and/or review many or all of the following during the no-charge home care assessment, depending on your parent's specific situation.
Mobility and balance
This is not just an interview. The Registered Nurse will actually ask your parent to stand or assist them to stand, walk with them, and observe their ability to move safely. Individuals from non-medical services who are not medically trained professionals are not qualified to conduct this kind of assessment.
Medications
Your parent may have more than one prescribing doctor. This can lead to medication interactions and overdoses. They may have expired medications that need to be properly disposed of. They may have over-the-counter medications that can impact the effectiveness of, or interact with, prescribed medications. The Registered Nurse can gain valuable insight into your parent's medical condition by reviewing their medication and the dosage instructions. The Nurse can also help your parent understand the role of the various medications — it is very common for people not to have a good understanding of why they are taking certain medications.
Blood-work results
The Registered Nurse can inform your parent about the generally accepted schedules for blood work, taking into account their specific medical conditions. Individuals from non-medical services who are not medically trained professionals are not qualified to review blood-work results.
Blood sugar readings
The Registered Nurse can sample your parent's blood sugar at the time, or review their journal if one is being kept. Many clients are unaware of what to do if their blood sugar is outside an acceptable range.
Cognition
Our Registered Nurses have years of experience caring for clients with a wide range of cognitive health. The initial assessment will allow the Registered Nurse to gain valuable insight into your parent's needs. We can then create a plan to help keep them as safe and as happy as possible.
Environment
The environment that your parent lives in can impact many aspects of both their well-being and the ability to properly provide care. Bathroom arrangements can impact where in the home care can be provided. In facility settings, other factors such as security can come into play. These are just a few of the many physical aspects of the living environment that need to be considered.
What the nurse can recommend
The Registered Nurse may also make recommendations for services, devices, and programmes — including the names and numbers of trusted resources for a wide range of health concerns, assistive devices based on viewing the client's environment, and specialty programmes for strength and balance for Parkinson's patients, caregiver support groups for those with Alzheimer's, and day programmes.
No-charge assessment — next steps
Once we have a thorough understanding of your parent's care needs we will, with your permission, put the plan into action. The plan will include Personal Support Worker care that is actively case-managed and supervised by Registered Nurses at no additional charge. Please note: we provide our free assessment by a Registered Nurse as part of ensuring that we are a good match for prospective clients and their families.