Patient-centered high-technology home care.
High-technology home care is a reality in today's health care system. Nurses, as health professionals, will be involved in high-technology home care for many patients, regardless of age or diagnosis. The nurse's involvement may be in the predischarge setting or in the home actually providing care. High-technology home care cannot and should not merely be care of the technology (the "machines and tubes") at home; rather, it should emphasize the care of the patients and families who are receiving technically complex therapies. To provide care for the patient and entire family, all nurses involved with the patient need to be aware of where the patient and family are developmentally, the structure of family relationships, the expectations with regard to home therapy, and the ability of the patient and family to physically or emotionally manage the therapy. Incorporating this information into a care plan for patient and family teaching can enable the nurse to provide care to the patient and family that surpasses that of merely seeing that the high-technology procedure is done safely and correctly.