From the Editor
Welcome to Home Healthcare Nurse and our new website! We are integrating Journal content, such as articles, columns, Clipboard, etc. to help you quickly and (more!) easily find the information you seek. As you know, HHN is the peer-reviewed interdisciplinary and international Journal that addresses all aspects of home health and hospice care in the home. Now in our 28th year, content is directed toward providing information about evidence-based research, clinical practice, and management. The articles and departments in HHN seek to stimulate creative, cost-effective, safe and high quality best practice approaches to support effective clinical and operations management for home care and hospice.
Features of the enhanced web site include customization for your use -- saved searches, personal article collections, easy-to-find supplemental materials and media, and the capability to export references into citation managers and figures from full-text articles into Power Point! Another new feature we will be adding is the “Published Ahead-of-Print” papers. In addition, I will highlight "Free–this-Month" articles that are available for a defined period of time for your reading pleasure and use!
Other features here to note include: "Editor’s Picks" "Hot Topics", and Future Table of Contents (TOCs) - which is pretty exciting so you see what is up next and coming in Home Healthcare Nurse! (I can give you a heads up – the January issue features articles about "The PHQ-2 on OASIS-C" and "Causes of Unplanned Hospital Admissions" - both important topics with Medicare certified HHAs.)
“Editor’s Picks” - This month features topics with immediate relevance and use – such as Margaret McDonald’s review of the article “Pandemic Influenza Planning in the Home Environment” and the issue of self-care (and germane during the holidays) entitled “Fired Up or Burned Out? Understanding the Importance of Professional Boundaries in Home Healthcare and Hospice” by Patti Anewalt. Others include “Point of Care” use in home health, “Health Coaching” and a discussion about “Why Home Health Professionals Should Get the Influenza Vaccine” by Heather McKenzie of the Visiting Nurse Associations of America.
“Hot Topics” is comprised of timely articles and includes “Depression and Suicide Risks in Older Adults: A Case Study” always a concern at the holidays as this case study shows and an editorial entitled “OASIS-C: Hope for Assessments that are Clinically Accurate and Useful” by Nary Narayan. Another article addresses the “Benefits of Hospice and Palliative Care Certification” while Anne Lefferts and team educate us with an update about that old scourge – bedbugs and one HHA’s story in “Community Health Nurses Battle an Ancient Nuisance” (also a CE).
In the "Collections" area there are 10 groupings of articles defined by the chosen topic. These are (in alpha order) Cardiac Care, Evidence-Based Practice, Global Perspectives, Infection Control and Prevention, Infusion Care, Hospice and Palliative Care, Interdisciplinary Team Perspective, Medicare, OASIS and Outcomes, Older Adult/Geriatric Care, and Wound Care. At the beginning of each Collection I explain what is contained and briefly, why that topic, content or article was chosen.
I thank you for all the feedback and notes and e-mails I receive about how much you enjoy Home Healthcare Nurse. Like the Journal, your comments are welcomed and can be sent to me at news@marrelli.com. I look forward to hearing from you and your ideas on ways to improve HHN, whether paper or the online version!
Sincerely,
Tina M. Marrelli, MSN, MA, RN, FAAN
Editor, Home Healthcare Nurse
Topics HHN seeks.
Editor's note: Tina Marrelli and all home health care nurses have lost a great person with the passing of Karen Buhler-Wilkerson. Many know Dr. Buhler-Wilkerson because of her great book, No Place Like Home: A history of Home Care and Nursing in the United States. She will be missed for all her knowledge and contributions to nursing and home care.