Policy Manual sample

MDT Home Health Care Agency, Inc. limited to: Ingesting the patient’s food and/or drink, or using the patient’s personal property without the patient’s offer and consent The staff should not eat or drink food and beverages belonging to the patient unless the patient offer’s. It is recommended however that the staff declines any offers from the patient as this can provide opportunity for the professional boundaries to be crossed. The staff should bring his or own food and drinks to the home in a cooler to avoid using the patient’s refrigerator. The staff should also avoid bringing foods requiring cooking or heating so the staff does not use the patient’s stove or microwave. The staff may not use the patient’s personal property unless utilization of that property is required in order to deliver services to the patient. Bringing children, pets, friends, relatives, other patients or anyone else to the patient’s place of residence. It is never permitted to bring any person or pet to the patient’s home. No children, friends, relatives, pets/animals, other patients on the waiver program, repair/maintenance people, sales people, or any other person no matter what the circumstance. If the staff finds that he or she has no baby sitter, bringing the child to work is never an option. The staff must notify the patient and case manager that he or she will be unable to work and assist the patient in implementing his/her back up plan. If the patient asks the staff to bring children, pets or other people to the home, the staff must respond by professionally declining and explaining that it would not be appropriate and is against the rules. If the staff becomes aware of a repair or other service needed by the patient and knows someone who will do this at a minimal or no cost, the case manager should be notified and that contact information provided to the case manager. The case manager can then discuss this option with the patient. It is not appropriate for the staff to make this connection for the patient. Bringing other people to the home is a breech of confidentiality and violates HIPAA law, Florida Home Care Conditions of Participation and Professional Licensing Board rules. Some common examples of this rule violation include: *The staff doesn’t have a baby sitter and brings his / her child to work. *The staff brings her husband over to change a lock, or wire a light fixture. *The staff arranges for a friend or relative who is a plumber to come over and unclog a drain at no charge. *The patient is friends with another patient and asks the staff to pick him/her - up on the way to provide service. *The staff gets a new puppy and brings it over to “cheer up” the patient. This rule also includes the staff being dropped off to and picked up from work by another person. If driven to and from work, the staff should make arrangements to be dropped off and picked up a far enough distance away from the home so the driver does not know which home the staff is entering and exiting. (The driver is never permitted to enter the home of the patient). Even if the driver does not know the name of the patient, he or she does know the address of an Agency’s Patient and this is also a breech of that patient’s confidentiality. This can also put the patient at risk because other people then have knowledge that a person with physical or medical disabilities lives at that address leaving the patient vulnerable to exploitation, theft, or even violence. Even at the request of the patient, these actions are never permitted. These actions not only breech confidentiality and leave the patient vulnerable, but they also degrade the professional boundaries. The patient may begin to view the staff more of a friend than a professional service staff. Taking the patient to the staff’s place of residence The patient’s environment is set up for that patient’s needs and is very difficult to reproduce in another care setting. It is difficult to ensure the health and safety of a patient in the staff’s home. Many patients require equipment and supplies to meet their care needs, if these things are forgotten or damaged in transport the patient can not receive needed care. A Staff can not maintain professional boundaries once the patient has visited his/her home. Care provided at the staff’s home can be viewed by the patient as a friendship instead of a professional relationship. The staff is paid to provide care solely to the patient during service hours, if care is provided in the staffs home, the staff may be tempted to throw in a quick load of laundry, or fix a snack for the kids when they come home from school, or other personal tasks which take away from the care the patient should be receiving. If the staff ever has reason to believe that the patient’s home environment is not appropriate for the patient or unsafe, taking the patient to the staff’s home is never an option. The correct course of action is to notify the case manager and contact county protective service agencies and/or police if environment is dangerous enough to warrant such involvement. Use of illegal drugs or chemical substances / alcohol and medications causing impairment. The staff is not permitted to use illegal drugs or chemical substances. Professional licensing boards such as the Florida Board of Nursing also prohibit the use of illegal drugs and/or chemical substances. In addition, the staff is not permitted to consume alcohol or take medications that may in any way impair the staff during service delivery. This includes over the counter medications that may make the staff drowsy or affect the staff in a way that prevents him/her from providing safe and Home Health Agency. - - Personnel/Operations Policies B-166