Room For All

[Jaebius]

Seeler? The first time that I saw you refer to the nurse as extra-mural, I thought it was a typo.By now, I get that it is what you call the nurse that comes to your home.

I am curious what others call those staff.

I thought maybe they were a nurse who also did some large-scale painting on the side.

 

[Mrs.Anteater]

Hi Mrs. anteater. My oldest has my second (spousal) costco charge at no extra charge.Just register your son at your address and it works.

That's what we did when he lived here. Don't plan to let them know he moved...

 

[Mrs.Anteater]

Seeler? The first time that I saw you refer to the nurse as extra-mural, I thought it was a typo.By now, I get that it is what you call the nurse that comes to your home.

I am curious what others call those staff.

VON nurses in Nova Scotia.

 

[Tabitha]

Exactly Mrs. Anteater. He does, after all, still get some of his mail here.

Extra-mural is not a term I am used to for nurses. Here-and in Alberta- I would call them Home-care or community health nurses, but I got your meaning right away.
Extra=mural means -outside the walls. Remember intra- murals from school days (within the walls).

 

[Mendalla]

Saw this video today and cringed a little:

Why did I cringe? Because we were on that exact ship 1 week before.

 

[Carolla]

Yikes Mendalla!!

 

[Seeler]

This probably should be in Health and Aging, but I don't know how to change it.

Extra-mural is a common term here. The program was first established 30 or so years ago to allow patients to be released from hospital sooner and cared for in their own homes. Apparently it is cheaper, more efficient, and better for the patient who now frequeently goes home after day surgery for things that once tied up hospital beds for a week or more. I was one of the early patients of the program when I had a bowel resection for Crohns. I was in hospital for a week or so, then allowed to go home - but not released, I was stilled considered a hospital patient. A nurse came daily to change the dressing, treat for pain, reassure me. A diatician also came to the house to advise on meals. And through the program it was arranged for someone to come in several times a week to do cleaning and housekeeping. Wow! And there was a 24 hour hotline that I could call if I had any questions or pain or whatever. Wonderful service.
Seelerman had an extra-mural come in and check his wound after he had dday-surgery for hernia.
Seelergirl had them come to the house to do drains, etc, after breast removal - she went home the same day.

This boil I had is minor compared to what many nurses look after in the patients home. Nevertheless, on the first visit they did all the 'admitting' forms just like I was being admitted to hospital. And I will be released probably later this week if all goes well.


I googled extra mural nurses in NB and got this.

Extra Mural Programs
The Extra-Mural Program (EMP) is a provincial health-care program that provides a broad range of health-care services in their homes and communities.

Services provided include:

• Acute care
• Palliative care
• Rehabilitation services
• Oxygen services
• Chronic care
• Long-term care (LTC) in partnership with the Department of Social Development and Mental Health.

Services are provided by a team consisting of:

• Registered nurses
• Physicians
• Licensed practical nurses
• Dieticians
• Occupational therapists
• Physiotherapists
• Respiratory therapists
• Speech-language pathologists
• Social workers
• Rehabilitation support personnel

Home care nursing services are provided on a 24/7 basis through shift work or, at night, by at least 1 on-call nurse.

The EMP is linked to several government departments and divisions, health-care institutions, and non-governmental agencies providing community-based services. This partnership enhances the provision of comprehensive services to clients and their families within their homes and communities.

Referrals to the program are accepted in the following ways:

• Physicians with admitting privileges in Horizon and Vitalité Health Networks can refer to the EMP. They must provide the necessary information as identified on the EMP referral form.
• Professionals in the EMP can refer directly to their colleagues in other disciplines for clinical assessments. A physician may be required to sign orders for certain interventions.
• Rehabilitation services can be accessed directly by clients and their families, physicians, schools, nursing homes, hospitals and tertiary service providers, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Public Health, and the Department of Social Development.

Mission
The mission of the EMP is to provide a comprehensive range of coordinated health-care services to individuals of all ages for the purposes of promoting, maintaining, and restoring their health within the context of their daily lives and of providing palliative care services for terminally-ill individuals to improve their quality of life.

Services in this Category:

• Clinics
• Long-Term Care Assessment
• Schools and Nursing Home Services
• Treatments, Education and Consultation

 

[Pinga]

Interesting, thanks Seeler. Sounds a bunch like CCAC's programs in Ontario

 

[Tabitha]

Or Home care in Alberta.

 

[BetteTheRed]

Interesting, thanks Seeler. Sounds a bunch like CCAC's programs in Ontario

Yeah, except that it sounds like it's largely 'public' health, rather than the creeping 'for profit' companies that vie to provide CCAC services.

 

[ChemGal]

Yeah, except that it sounds like it's largely 'public' health, rather than the creeping 'for profit' companies that vie to provide CCAC services.

I don't seen them as creeping I see them as offering services that one can't get through the government without doing something like risking getting an infection in the emergency room.

 

[paradox3]

Yeah, except that it sounds like it's largely 'public' health, rather than the creeping 'for profit' companies that vie to provide CCAC services.

Here in Ontario there is much competition for those CCAC contracts.

 

[Seeler]

I presume this is all covered by Medicare in NB. No one in my family has ever been billed for the service.

Thank God (and the people of Canada) for Medicare.

Unfortunately, I think that the housekeeping aspect was dropped (or limited; or perhps some type of pay according to your ability) after the first few years. Seelerman and I haven't needed it. Seelergirl could have used the help but I don't believe it was offered. As a poor province we have to try to keep costs down as much as possible.

 

[Mendalla]

Yeah, except that it sounds like it's largely 'public' health, rather than the creeping 'for profit' companies that vie to provide CCAC services.

*coughs*

I worked for one of those companies and the only workforce I have seen that was harder working and more caring are the folks in the oxygen company where I still work.

And, incidentally, home oxygen is almost all private now. If you, for instance, were to go on O2 for some reason, it would likely be our Barrie location (a joint venture with RVH) that would be caring for you.

Private, for profit healthcare companies are not the ogres people of certain political stripes make them out to be. Seventeen years of working in the sector has taught me that much.

 

[chansen]

Death panels!

 

[BetteTheRed]

I don't think they're ogres. I'm not sure how you deliver a service less expensively when you have to factor in profit.

 

[Tabitha]

I have had nursing friends working for private companies in ONT. They really don't care which company gets the contracts as they move companies as needed. But no chance to build pension or job security that you get in provinces where govt run these programs.

 

[Mendalla]

I have had nursing friends working for private companies in ONT. They really don't care which company gets the contracts as they move companies as needed. But no chance to build pension or job security that you get in provinces where govt run these programs.

Actually, from the corporate standpoint, we had a big problem with employees who worked casual for multiple companies rather than committing to us. We offered benefits to employees who agreed to work more than a certain number of hours with us to try to rectify that. The problem you cite isn't a problem with having for profit companies providing care, but with how the government made the CCACs run their "competitive bidding" contracting process.

On the home oxygen side, we negotiate a blanket contract with the government that covers all home O2 vendors that qualify under the terms of the agreement. As a consequence we have full-time staff with benefits and job security.

However, this conversation is probably best moved to Health & Aging.

 

[Pinga]

Seeler, with CCAC contracting to private care, we still don't pay for visits such as yours. The private companies are paid by the government.
Dad had extensive nursing care at one point, no charge to us.

 

[Nancy]

CCAC was very important to us in the school world...Occupational Therapists, and Speech Language Therapists especially. The wait-lists were daunting though. When a little one has speech difficulties, we would screen them at the school level to make sure that it wasn't typical or developmental based on age. Then we would refer them. Waits could sometimes be up to two years. Btw...seems speech/language difficulties are increasingly common with children in the early grades. Wondering why.

On an entirely different note, oldest son proposed to his long-time girlfriend and she said 'yes'. We have two weddings to look forward to now. Daughter is still waiting the American government's okay before she and her boyfriend can marry.