Home and Community Care Nursing Handbook
Nursing Support and Consultation
The capacity to manage the delivery of the home and community care program is an essential service element within the First Nations and Inuit Home and Community Care (FNIHCC) Framework. The rationale for inclusion of this element into the Program is based on the constantly changing needs of the home care client that may require a high level of management and nursing support.
This section provides communities with information that will help them establish a process for carrying out the necessary program management activities, as well as professional nursing consultation and support. The documents included in this section are meant as guidelines for communities to assist them in developing their own program management and support framework.
Professional nursing support and consultation is defined by a range of activities. These include but are not limited to the following:
- consultation and advice on professional nursing practice issues;
- monitoring and evaluation of nursing services delivery;
- ensuring adherence to the standards for nursing practice by all nursing staff; and
- provision of consultation and support on a wide range of nursing human resource issues.
Management and Support Options
As program support and management is an essential service element in the FNIHCC Program, communities must describe how this will be provided in their service delivery plan. Communities have many options for providing this type of service within their program.
Larger, self-sustaining programs have the option of providing the service themselves . This can be accomplished in several ways including:
- Through a senior nursing manager employed full-time within their program;
- Hiring a program manager for the non-nursing aspects of the management and supporting and hiring a nurse consultant on a contractual basis to provide professional nursing consultation and support; or
- Contracting this service from a larger Home Care Agency such as St. Elizabeth Health Care, Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) or a Provincial Home Care program.
A sample job description for a senior nursing manager and a sample contract that could be used to negotiate the services of a nursing consultant are included in the Reference Kit.
Communities affiliated with a tribal council or a First Nations political organization have the option of working with the larger organization to receive these services using an economy of scale model. In essence, communities contribute program management and support dollars to the larger organization that in turn can provide the service to a group of communities with their combined resources. A sample of a Tribal Home and Community Care Coordinator Work Plan is included in the Reference Kit. Communities can use it as a reference when negotiating such a service with an umbrella organization.
Communities that do not have either of the above options in some areas may negotiate the provision of second level services from a government entity or a regional health authority. The Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) of Health Canada , Provincial/Territorial Health Ministries and/or Regional Health Authorities are agencies and/or departments that may be able to provide these services. The community could negotiate these services with the respective government agency and a Memorandum of Understanding could be developed to formalize this service. The Reference Kit contains a sample Memorandum of Understanding and a Home Care Nursing Consultation Work Plan.
|
