Service to community

Press, 7 September 1989, Page 26

Service to community

The core of the Nurse Maude District Nursing Association work in the community is its extensive district nursing service.

This handles an everincreasing number of people who require homebased nursing and support services on a regular basis. Patients in their own homes receive the nursing treatment they would normally get in hospital. The services are provided by registered nurses including some who specialise in caring for the terminally ill, midwifery and diabetes treatment.

Most care is given during normal working hours from Monday to Friday, but many patients’ needs dictate evening and seven-days-a-week attention.

Sitter services give people caring for dependants time off from their work, while a night service is available for terminally ill or chronically ill patients. The objective of the district nursing services is to enable - as many

patients as possible to remain at home instead of being in hospital.

The home aid service provides regular, efficient and friendly home support visits to many hundreds of households throughout Canterbury. Good housekeeping skills and food preparation are functions performed for the frail elderly, the handicapped and post-operative patients of all ages who cannot undertake normal household tasks. The 113-bed Memorial Hospital in McDougall Avenue, Merivale, provides short and long-term hospital care. Short-stay patients of up to four weeks are usually recovering from surgery or other illness, or are dependent people whose carers need time off from their responsibilities. Long-stay patients receive warm and supportive nursing care with emphasis on maintaining independence and selfesteem.

A nominal charge includes morning and afternoon teas and lunch.