Creating her own schedule
For Foster, another key attraction of home care nursing is the ability to make her own schedule. She arranges appointments based on the preferences of the patient and what works for her.
“Because you are a guest in their home and you see how they live their everyday life, you can base your nursing goals and interventions on the reality of how they live,” she says. “Most patients are not an island, so you are treating the entire sphere of who is in that home to prevent re-hospitalization.”
Visiting patients throughout the Pocono region, she typically spends about one hour at each home. Patients may have heart failure, arthritis or cancer. When treating these patients, she makes sure to come prepared and remain mentally flexible to meet their very specific needs.
“In home care nursing, you must think on your feet because every home you walk into is different,” she says. “When you pull up to that house you never know what you are going to run into, but it’s very interesting and rewarding.”