There’s no place like home

Being able to welcome an experienced and skilled nurse into your home when you need care brings peace of mind. It means you can avoid the inconvenience of travelling to a medical centre or hospital, as well as receiving treatment in a familiar and comfortable environment.

Over 100 individuals currently receive in-home care from Rocky Bay’s Community Nursing Team, who work with their customers to reach their health goals to support them in achieving their best quality of life.

Rocky Bay Registered Nurse, Louise Murphy, is just one of the nurses who travels around Perth to attend to customers’ health and wellbeing in the comfort of their own homes. She trained as an intellectual disability nurse and has been with Rocky Bay for six years.

Louise visits around 15 individuals each week, some of whom are regulars who she sees every day, and others on a schedule of set days and times. She also receives a handful of calls a day from customers who require urgent care.

In addition to general health monitoring, Louise and the team see individuals for a variety of reasons such continence assessments, skin care and wound management, post-surgery care, catheter management, PEG placement and care, injection medications and diabetes management for individuals of a variety of ages and abilities.

She also conducts general wellness checks, such as monitoring blood sugar.

“There is a gentlemen in Rockingham I see every second week to check his blood sugar and blood pressure, and his overall wellbeing and health,” Louise said.

“And another gentlemen I visit for catheter management. He previously had continence issues and we tried so many options to find a solution. We recommended he see his GP, who fitted him with a catheter. Since this solution for continence management was implemented, his quality of life has increased tenfold.”

Louise said despite what most people might assume, the individuals she treats are a variety of different ages, not necessarily just the elderly.

“I saw a little boy recently who had a wound on his hand, and he was just eight years-old,” Louise said.

Louise explains why Rocky Bay’s Community Nursing is such an important service for individuals.

“Going to someone’s house saves them having to go into an environment that they are not comfortable with,” Louise said.

“When we go to them, it’s in the comfort of their own home. It’s great to get feedback from their carer or family as well, as they know them better than everybody.”

What is Louise’s favourite part of her role as a Community Nurse?

“Visiting people in general. There is one lady I see twice a week for care and I love having a chat and spending that little bit of extra time with her.”

Click here to find out more about Rocky Bay’s Community Nursing services, or call our friendly Customer Engagement on 08 6282 1900.