Delivering life-changing home health care is a team effort that requires cooperation between the patient, their loved ones, caregivers, coordinators, nurses, and doctors. May 12th is Florence Nightingale’s birthday, considered the founder of modern nursing. The American Nurses Association (ANA) theme for 2025 is “The Power of Nurses” which acknowledges the significant contributions of nurses around the world as well as recognizing the daily challenges they face.

In observance of National Nurses Week (May 6th through May 12th), SelectCare wants to highlight the role our Director of Nursing and Registered Nurse (RN) Supervisors play at every stage of a client’s home health care experience.

Support From the First Call

When a new client first calls, SelectCare’s Director of Nursing, Kelly Takemura, MSN, RN and Nurse Supervisor, Fritzel Gonzalez, RN play a key role in gathering important information and care planning. The SelectCare Nurses will discuss the prospective client’s health, living situation, and long-term home care goals. This call is also an opportunity to begin gathering health and safety information like medication lists and contact information for family and medical providers.

After learning a prospective client’s needs, the SelectCare Nurse work closely with SelectCare’s Service Coordinators to develop a team of in-home caregivers who can provide consistent coverage throughout a client’s time with SelectCare.

Thanks to the Director of Nursing and Nurse Supervisor’s close working relationship with Service Coordinators, clients, and caregivers, planning a schedule goes beyond availability and also considers the personality and skills of each caregiver to ensure the client will receive care that meets their physical, emotional, and social needs.

Bringing Care to the Client

When the appropriate caregivers have been confirmed, the Director of Nursing or the Nurse Supervisor meet the client in their home or hospital room for a free in-home care assessment. This meeting is an opportunity to better understand the challenges faced by a client, get an up-to-date picture of their current health, learn their goals for home health care, meet other family members involved in the client’s care, and answer any questions the client may have about their services.

With the client’s permission, the Nurse will contact their doctor, ask questions, and ensure SelectCare has the clearest possible understanding of the client’s unique circumstances. This information is organized and shared with the client and their caregivers in a plan of care, which serves as the guiding document for a client’s care experience.

Once a schedule, care team, and plan of care is established, the Nurse Supervisor and Service Coordinator provide the caregiver team with a thorough briefing on the client, care expectations and duties, and ensure they have the information they need to provide the best possible care.

Ongoing Support

With the care plan in place, the Nurse Supervisor continues to provide ongoing support to the client.

With the client’s permission, Nurse Supervisors can serve as a communication hub in their care network, providing regular updates to a client’s loved ones and alerting a client’s physicians if there is a change in the client’s health.

In addition to these duties, the Nurse Supervisor can play a key role in identifying potential hazards and bringing additional support into the home if needed. For example, the Nurse Supervisor may seek out and recommend support services from a geriatric care manager or physical therapist to supplement in-home caregiving, or ensure a client receives the support they need by working alongside programs like Meals on Wheels to assist with dietary needs on days that caregivers are not scheduled. The Nurse Supervisor is able to recommend physician teams that make home visits when clients have difficulty in traveling to medical appointments.

While much of a Nurse Supervisor’s support work is performed outside the client’s home, they remain a familiar face through regular visits to the client. These visits allow the Nurse Supervisor to maintain an up-to-date picture of the client’s health and living conditions and maintain an ongoing conversation about the client’s satisfaction with their care and make modifications as needed.

Even when the Nurse Supervisor is not in the home, their support is only a phone call away. SelectCare Director of Nursing or Nurse Supervisor are on-call and able respond to caregiver or client concerns. This ongoing support ensures a stronger continuity of care, improves the quality of care during emergency or unusual situations, and promotes patient and caregiver safety.

In the event of an emergency, response times matter. Having a caregiver in the home supported by the Nurse Supervisor not only improves response times during an emergency, but also means that a client’s loved ones and physicians are alerted during an emergency and can provide their own forms of support.

SelectCare applauds the incredible efforts of our Director of Nursing, Kelly Takemura, MSN, RN and RN Nurse Supervisor, Fritzel Gonzalez, RN for their tireless dedication to their clients and colleagues, along with all nurses who go above and beyond to make a difference for their patients.  SelectCare also acknowledges the amazing team of staff nurses and home health aides who provide compassion and professional care to their home bound clients.