Best of care: most difficult of circumstances

Adopting clinical best practices in home care and hospice can be a real challenge, even under the very best of circumstances. What happens when the patient's life circumstances are anything but the best? Poverty. Social isolation. Poor diet. Substance abuse. Crime. Language or cultural barriers. Or even those who must try to safeguard their health while piecing a life back together after a natural disaster. All of these factors and more are part of the day-to-day working reality for many home care providers. To not just cope but to exercise best health care practices in oftentimes very difficult situations, home care nurses need to become in part detective, social worker, technologist, innovator, risk taker, and most of all, trusted friends.