For families
You know your child better than anyone
Our job is to bring the clinical skill, learn your routines, and make home work, without taking over your household.
Where most families start
Usually it starts on a hard day
Most families reach us at one of three moments: a discharge date has landed and nursing needs to be in place; the current arrangement has stopped working; or the exhaustion of doing every shift yourself has become unsustainable.
All three are normal. None of them require you to have the vocabulary right, or to know how many hours your child is authorized for. That is what the first conversation is for.
What you can expect
Four things we will always do
Tell you the truth
If we cannot staff your child’s hours, we say so, rather than accepting the referral and hoping.
Match deliberately
Clinical needs first, then language, culture and the way your household runs.
Write your routines down
The things that matter to your family belong in the care plan, not in one nurse’s memory.
Answer at 3am
On-call clinical support is around the clock, because complex children do not keep office hours.
Before the first shift
What to have ready
None of this is a test. If you do not have it, we will help you get it.
- Your child’s current medication list: the version the pharmacy is actually filling
- The discharge summary or clinic letter, if you have one to hand
- Your insurance or Medicaid details, and your case manager’s name if you have one
- Any written plans your child already has: seizure action plan, emergency airway plan, feeding schedule
- The names of the specialists involved in your child’s care
- Anything about your household we should know before a nurse arrives
Questions
Questions families ask first
What happens when I call?
You speak to someone clinical, not a call centre. We ask what your child needs, what hours you are authorized for, and where you are in the process. If we can help, we tell you what happens next. If we cannot, we say so.
How quickly can care start?
It depends on authorization, on your child’s needs and on matching the right nurse. We will not quote you a number we cannot hold to, but we will tell you honestly where the wait is and why.
Do we have to be discharged from hospital to get nursing?
No. Some families come to us straight from a hospital discharge; others have been managing at home for years and reach a point where they need help. Both are ordinary.
What if we already have an agency?
Families change agencies for all sorts of reasons: missed shifts, a poor match, a move. You are allowed to. Talk to your case manager about what the change involves.
Start with a conversation
No forms to fill in first, no commitment. Tell us what is happening and we will tell you what we can do.