Keeping Patients Safe at Home

When you are in the hospital, there's likely one question at the front of your mind: When can I go home? You may be anxious to get back to a familiar environment, close to friends and family.

Thanks to Meridian At Home, many patients are able to return home sooner while continuing to receive the medical care they need.

"Meridian At Home provides a wide range of home care services,such as nursing, physical therapy,occupational therapy, wound care,dietary services, and more," says Dawn Jacobson, R.N., director of Meridian At Home. "Our goal is to keep patients at home and independent."

Extending Care to the Home

Anne Sibole, 87, recently experienced Meridian At Home's services after the anticoagulant medication she was taking for a heart condition caused rectal bleeding.

Anne sought treatment at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and spent four days there. The bleeding stopped and Anne's physician, Abeer Elessawi, D.O., an internal medicine specialist at Jersey Shore, switched her medication to prevent it from happening again.

Anne was well enough to go home, but Dr. Elessawi was concerned about irregularities in her blood pressure. She arranged for Meridian At Home's certified nursing professionals to visit Anne at her Neptune home three times a week for three weeks to monitor her health.

Putting Patients at Ease
"I was so frightened my new medication would cause bleeding again, and I was also concerned about my erratic blood pressure," says Anne,who lives alone. "But the fact that the nurses came every few days to check on me put me at ease."

The nurses checked her blood pressure and sometimes ran a blood test. If they noticed anything unusual, they discussed it with Dr. Elessawi, who would tell them what changes to make to Anne's medications.

Physical therapists with Meridian At Home also visited Anne. "Patients in their late 80s, like Anne, can get weak very rapidly after just a few days of being immobile in the hospital," Dr. Elessawi explains. "The therapists helped her regain her strength, prevented disability, and kept her out of a rehab facility."

Anne was grateful for the peace of mind Meridian At Home provided. "Every single person who came to my home made me feel so comfortable," Anne says. "I could go to sleep each night knowing everything would be OK."