Our field nurses came to Apple in significant numbers from Northwestern Memorial and Rush University when those institutions sold their home health care divisions. Apple also has attracted nurses from prominent home health care agencies throughout the area. We round out our ranks with shining stars who found us from hospitals, universities, home care companies, and other practice settings across the metropolitan area and beyond.

Many Apple nurses hold graduate degrees and/or are pursuing graduate education at this time. We value and promote continuing education. Our staff includes current and former university faculty members, and Apple has a teaching affiliation with Rush University College of Nursing. Every nurse has access to a Master's prepared specialist for consultation and collaboration.

ï Management of anticoagulation therapy

For patients who no longer are being managed by the physicians who saw them as inpatients and who have not yet seen their community-based providers, or as a service to our medical colleagues, Apple offers management of warfarin dosing to achieve and maintain therapeutic INRs. Apple boasts five RN's who are credentialed in anticoagulant therapy management, enabling us to monitor INRs and adjust warfarin doses as needed. Orders are sent to the patient's physician for signature, assuring that each patient's care ultimately is overseen by his or her own doctor, while the doctor is not interrupted for every test result and dose adjustment.

ï Point of Care PT/INRs

Apple nurses obtain on-site, real time PT/INR test results, and can provide immediate feedback to ordering physicians and/or to the nurse managing each patient's anticcoagulation therapy regimen.. Being in the patient's home when the test is done and the result obtained, the nurse immediately can carry out any further assessment or intervention needed to manage out-of-range findings.

ï APN consultation for wound patients

Our collaborating Nurse Practitioners are certified wound care specialists who make home visits to evaluate wounds, recommend treatment, and consult with patients' physicians and nurses. They continue to make follow-up home visits as needed throughout the course of care.

ï Psychiatric Nursing

Apple offers home visits by Master's prepared psychiatric nursing specialists for patients with mental health care needs.

ï Emphasis on Getting to the Root of Patients' Problems

Apple nurses are trained to take advantage of the unique assessment and intervention opportunities afforded by practicing in patients' homes. They will recommend Physical or Occupational Therapy for mobility, functional, or environmental deficits that might not be apparent when patients are seen in office, clinic, or inpatient settings, and will refer patients for home Medical Social Worker services and/or community resources to assure comprehensive coverage of patients' needs. Apple nurses also look for self care and health management deficits, such as problems with medication or nutritional management, difficulty with self-monitoring, and lack of information or understanding about health problems and recommended treatment. Apple nurses are holistic in focus, and welcome and encourage people important to individual patients to be engaged and involved in the home care experience.

 

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