Find your way in home nursing

Find your

way in home

nursing

A practical guide

for patient and

Dear patient

At home, close to family and friends, you will feel the most at ease. That is quite natural. As Wit-Gele Kruis [White and Yellow Cross] nurses, we find it also nice to take care of you in your familiar environment.

This brochure gives you some gui-dance in the nursing care that we, as Wit-Gele Kruis nurses, can offer you. You can always count on us. With a small team of nurses, we will look after you with enthusiasm, extensive knowledge and care. We will always be there for you: even outside of the periods that we administer cae, you can always contact us by phone, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the number 014-24 24 24. This is the advantage of a professional organisation such as Wit-Gele Kruis. Together, we can ensure you optimal and continuous care at your home.

In addition to Wit-Gele Kruis, there are still a lot of other parties that can surround you at home with good care: your general practitioner, family care, your physiotherapist or occupational therapist, a social worker… Together we will make sure that you receive the care at home that you need.

You may have further questions after going through this guide. Don’t hesitate to ask at your next visit. You can come to us with all your ques-tions about home care. We are here to help you. You can also find more information about Wit-Gele Kruis on our website www.witgelekruis.be (in Dutch).

Your team of home care nurses Wit-Gele Kruis Antwerp

Content

What can you expect as a patient? ... 4

What does the nurse and the team expect from you? ... 10

What does nursing at home cost? ... 16

Which other services does Wit-Gele Kruis offer? ... 18

Your opinion is important to us ... 22

How can you contact us? ... 24

Wit-Gele Kruis Antwerp provides nursing at home. Your doctor usually determines which care you need and your home care nurse is a guarantee for a professional implementation of this care.

24 hours a day, 7 days a week

at your service

Your nurse will preferably come to your home between 07:00 a.m. and

9 p.m. If necessary, we can look for

a solution outside of these hours. You can also contact the care centre of Wit-Gele Kruis by phone, day and

night, all year round, on the number

014-24 24 24. The staff of the care centre will help you further or ensure that your message will reach the right person as soon as possible.

Appointments for specific moments of care are to be arranged with your nurse. Please note, it is always an

‘approximate’ time.

Nurse care from A to Z

You can appeal to Wit-Gele Kruis for hygienic care, injections, wound and diabetic care, palliative care, bladder rinses, blood tests, enemas, the application of tube feeding… and for more technical care, such as kidney dialysis, flushing totally implantable venous acces port systems, placing an infusion, disconnecting chemo, compression therapy…

Your Wit-Gele Kruis nurse brings personally syringes, needles, sterile bandage sets and sets for bladder rinses. In addition, you can order incontinence material via your

What can you

expect as a

patient?

nurse. You have to arrange yourself for wound care equipment and products and medicines. Your nurse will make arrangements with you about this.

Do you often need help with

non-nursing tasks? Make

arran-gements with your volunteer caregiver(s). Your nurse will be pleased to inform you about profes-sional service providers that can give you extra support.

Your nurse also offers you support and a listening ear in difficult times. He/she will guide you to self-help, support you or your volunteer care-giver in performing certain nursing actions, give you information about

prevention … He/she can also advise

you about other supporting services, auxiliary aids, the organisation of a patient’s room at home and other practical materials.

With the necessary respect of your individuality and autonomy, together with you and during the whole care providing process, the

home care nurse will discuss how we can offer you the best care under the best conditions.

Your permanent nursing

team

In every district or municipality, there is a permanent team of

Wit-Gele Kruis nurses active. This is

the team that will take care of you, which is pleasant both for you and for the nurses. When your perma-nent nurse is ill, or has taken time off, then one of the colleagues from

the team will be ready to effortlessly take over your care.

An unknown nurse is visiting you? Ask for their Wit-Gele Kruis badge. This way you can always be sure that it is an employee of Wit-Gele Kruis. Seeing that there are stories every now and then about people with bad intentions who pretend to be home care nurses, you should not take any risks.

Permanent consultation

A good cooperation is an absolute prerequisite for high-quality care. The nurses of the permanent team

brief one another, agree with one

another and consult one another on a regular basis. If required, they will consult with your physician and, if necessary, with other partners, such as social workers, family and elderly care. They always respect the

professional confidentiality.

A professional organisation

Your nurse is supported by a strong organisation. Wit-Gele Kruis works mainly with nurses and, to a lesser extent, with health care

professio-nals. They are all well trained and

regularly attend refresher courses. Within Wit-Gele Kruis there are several nurses specialised in specific

areas, such as diabetes, wound care,

ostomy care, back hygiene, dementia and palliative care. Your nurse can always rely on their expertise when it comes to specific questions and problems. Thanks to the expertise of our nursing technical support team, we are constantly up-to-date with the latest technical care possible in a home situation.

Need care elsewhere?

Depending on the care and the situation, your home nurse can also come to school or work. As such, you can continue your daily activities undisrupted. Ensure, however, to notify your home care nurse or colleagues at the department about changes in the normal planning in good time. This way, we avoid unnecessary travelling and costs.

Do you want to go on holiday? Inform your Wit-Gele Kruis section where and to what extent Wit-Gele Kruis can continue your nursing care in the country. There are also organised tours with a nurse always present in the area for sick, depen-dent older people or people with disabilities.

Hospital visit

When you need to be hospitalized, Wit-Gele Kruis stays with you. We find it important and will strive to

visit you during your hospital stay.

This way, we will stay up-to-date regarding your situation. Together with you, your family and our colleagues from the hospital, we will make the necessary arrangements to ensure an expert personalised home care, also when you are back at home.

The electronic nursing file and

access to the data

The electronic nursing file (EVD) contains the planning and info with regards to your care. At each care-gi-ving visit, before starting with the care-giving, the nurse scans your identity card into the EVD in order to identify you (obligation from the public authority). The nurses register all major nursing data in the EVD and confirm the care that they carry out by means of their tablet.

You have secure access to these data via our website (in Dutch)

www.witgelekruis.be/mijnWGK. Your doctor also has access to your file, provided that you have given your informed consent to share your health data.

By giving your consent, you accept that the people who nurse you share relevant information about your health. By working together and knowing your medical history, your caregivers can treat you better, give faster care and/or avoid you having to undergo unnecessary examinations.

Respect for your rights as

a patient

Wit-Gele Kruis Antwerp respects your rights as a patient. In this regard we rely on the law concern-ing the rights of the patient. This law includes:

• Receiving high quality care • Free choice of caregiver/care

organisation

• Information about the personal health condition

• Right to receive adequate infor-mation and to give informed consent to care service

• Careful maintenance of a patient file, with possibility to inspect and copy

• Protection of the privacy • Filing a complaint to the

Ombudsman

• Right to receive pain relief

You will find more info about the rights of the patient on the website www.patientrights.be.

Specific wishes and

expectations

The context in which we care allows us, up to a certain level, to respect-fully take account of organisational and ideological expectations. Where necessary, you can discuss any

specific wishes with the nurse. He/

she will receive the best possible answer, within this framework and in consultation with one another.

Concerned about safe care

Wit-Gele Kruis attaches great importance to a strict hand hygiene. To prevent the transmission of infection, your home nurse disin-fects her/his hands before and after each care. If for some reason he/she would have forgotten, please remind her/him to think about it.

Problems with medication? Your

nurse will help you when it comes to safe medication by offering you and your volunteer caregiver the necessary info and support.

Auxiliary materials may in certain

cases be recommended and needed for your own safety to be able to carry out your care – also by your partner or volunteer caregiver – in a safe and comfortable way. Your nurse will discuss this with you, give you the necessary info and assist you, your partner/volunteer caregi-ver with regards to its correct use. Do you have other questions that you think stand in the way of safe caregiving? Make sure to discuss them with your nurse.

It is of the utmost importance that your caregiving is carried out in the best conditions, both for yourself and for the nurse. That is why we ask you to bring order to and respect the following:

Doctor’s prescription and care

equipment

For all nursing care a signed prescription from your general practitioner or your treating physi-cian is necessary, except for hygienic care. The doctor will indicate the nature of the care, the period and the number of times that you must be cared for, the possible medication to be administered and the dose on the prescription. If you need further

care after the planned duration of the care, then a new prescription is required. Make sure the prescription

is in order at the start-up of the care.

In case you need continued care after the expiry of the prescription, ask your doctor for a new

prescrip-tion in good time.

What does the

nurse and the

team expect

from you?

You must provide wound care equipment and the necessary medicines yourself.

It is important that you make arran-gements with your nurse about all of this.

In fact, the absence of a proper prescription and/or the necessary equipment can jeopardise the immediate start and/or continua-tion of safe caregiving.

Correct and professional care

provision

For a correct nursing-technical implementation of the care, your nurse follows the prescribed

pro-cedures and guidelines. To comply

with this, your cooperation can be requested and expected. An example of this, amongst others, is ‘lying down’ when you receive an injection in the gluteus maximus.

Health insurance

identifica-tion stickers and identity card

To pass on the costs of your care directly to your health insurance fund, your Wit-Gele Kruis nurse will register a number of administrative data at her/his first visit.

That is why we are asking you to prepare a number of identification

stickers from your health insurance

and your identity card. You should immediately notify your nurse of any subsequent changes to these data.

Proof of identification

At each care visit, the nurse will identify you by scanning your

identity card before carrying out the care. This is an obligation from the

public authority and also a condition for passing on the cost of your care directly to the health insurance fund.

Your nurse expects your identity card to be ready at each caregiving visit. If you do not have an identity card, you need to submit an alterna-tive proof of identity (ISI+…).

Professional aid materials

Caring for a patient can be physically burdening for both the nurse as well as the helping family mem-bers and friends. Rearrangement

of the patient’s room at home and acquiring aid equipment

(bed lift, high-low bed…), can be

recommended and may sometimes be necessary to make a safe and comfortable care possible. In some cases, it can also be necessary that a volunteer caregiver or other person gives a hand with the care. Your nurse will be pleased to discuss this matter timeously with you and your partner/volunteer caregiver.

Optimal environment

In order to be able to find your property quickly, it is important that your house number is clearly visible from the street, even in the dark. In order to prevent an accident fall - both for you and your partner, volunteer caregiver, nurse – a good

lighting inside and outside, secure access to your home and a safe

interior are important. Wherever the caregiving takes place, we ask for a clean place where your nurse can deposit the care material. If necessary, together with you and your partner/volunteer caregiver, your nurse will make achievable arrangements to ensure this as good as possible.

Pets

Even if your pet is the sweetest in the world, during the visit of your nurse and the care administration, it may suddenly be a nuisance and provoke unexpected and unfortunate accidents, both to your nurse and you, the owner of the pet. Therefore, during each care visit at home, pets belong in another room. Your nurse expects that you take care of this.

Use of substances

For the health of our employees, we ask not to smoke during care visit. Are you under the influence of

alcohol or other substances? Your nurses have the right to refuse the care if they consider that it cannot be carried out in a sufficiently safe and high-quality environment.

A good cooperation

Wit-Gele Kruis is concerned about the well-being of both patients

and nurses. It is important to work together in a safe home environ-ment. Unsafe hygienic situations,

indecent behaviour towards the nurses can jeopardise the continua-tion of the care provision.

Choosing Wit-Gele Kruis is choosing a team of nurses of different origin,

gender, age… They all give the best

of themselves. This is why we ask to accept and respect all our colleagues as health care providers.

No gifts

Our employees are not allowed to accept money, valuables or gifts from a patient. Would you like to offer something anyway? A glass of water in warm weather or a warm drink with a cookie is allowed, but it shouldn’t become a habit.

Valuable items

We have one rule of thumb for money and valuable items: always store them in a safe place and out of

sight. In the case of loss of valuable

items or money, it is understandable that questions/suspicions may arise. Lost objects or resources often come out again within short time, but such experiences aren’t pleasant, both for you and for the nurse. Of course we want to avoid this.

Absent? We appreciate you

informing us in advance

For one reason or another, you can’t

be at home for the care visit? Let

your nurse know in advance or call

timely Wit-Gele Kruis. You haven’t

announced your absence at the visit of your nurse? Then we charge € 5 for the travel costs.

Monthly document and

expense reports

You will get a document from Wit-Gele Kruis every month. It shows

which nursing activities have been

invoiced to your health insurance fund the past month and the names of the nurses who administered the care.

If, during the previous month, you received care that was not reimbur-sed by your health insurance fund/ RIZIV/INAMI, and/or if your nurse has carried out ‘wasted visits’, you will also receive a monthly expense

report.

Financial compensation

Under certain conditions, you are entitled to a financial

compensa-tion. This is an amount of money

that you receive from the govern-ment or municipality. It helps you in paying your medical expenses. More information can be found on www. witgelekruis.be/tegemoetkomingen (in Dutch).

Anyone who needs home nursing can come to Wit-Gele Kruis. Most of the nursing care is reimbursed by all health insurance funds, in whole or partially, according to the rules of the National Sickness and Invalidity Insurance (RIZIV/INAMI).

Compensation for the nursing

by your nurse is compensated by the

RIZIV/INAMI via your health

insu-rance fund, provided you are insured for small risks, that you have paid your health insurance contribution and the identification by means of the scan of your identity card at each care visit is in order.

For patients from abroad, other

arrangements for payment are

applicable. Your nurse and/or the department head can advise you about this.

It can happen that you, your general practitioner or treating physician requests for care that is not covered

by your health insurance fund/ RIZIV/INAMI. If this is the case,

Wit-Gele Kruis will ask you in certain, well-defined circumstances a fee

(€ 5) per visit of caregiving. Your

nurses and/or department head can give you more info about this.

The same compensation is

reque-sted for ‘wareque-sted visits’ (if you haven’t notified your absence and/ or the nurse does not have access to the house).

What does

nursing at

home cost?

In addition to home nursing, Wit-Gele Kruis Antwerp offers additional services in order to be able to continue to live independently at home or to come back home from the hospital as quickly as possible.

Personal alarm

To be safe at home day and night, you can make use of a personal

alarm. You get a wireless pendant

around the neck or the wrist. There is a push button on the pendant with which you can send an alarm

signal to the care centre of Wit-Gele Kruis.

You must explain to the employee of the care centre what you need

help for and he/she will contact, if

necessary, a family member, friend, neighbour, general practitioner or ambulance with the request to come to you. For a limited monthly contri-bution, you will have a helping hand in the neighbourhood at any time of the day. T. 014-24 24 40 www.witgelekruis.be/personenalarm

Which other

services does

Wit-Gele Kruis

offer?

Key Deposit

If you are less mobile and it becomes difficult to open the door, a key

deposit can offer a solution. Your

house key is kept safely in a safety deposit box located outside, next to the door or at an agreed upon place. The safety deposit box can be opened with a code that you give to those to whom you wish to grant access to your house.

014-24 24 40

www.witgelekruis.be/hulpmiddelen

Family Care

The continuous care for a dependent partner or family member can be stressful. To make the tasks of your partner, family and friends somewhat easier, you can rely on the service family care ‘Beter Thuis’

(Better at home) of Wit-Gele Kruis.

The people taking care of this service help you with your personal care and your household duties. T. 014-24 24 20

Midwife team

Are you pregnant or you just gave birth? Both during your pregnancy

and after childbirth, our midwives

will help you and your baby at home. In consultation with you as a parent and with your general practitioner and gynaecologist, we will look at how we can assist you in the best way. Back home after the birth, we continue the care that has been started in the maternity ward of the hospital.

T. 014-24 24 14 www.witgelekruis.be/ vroedvrouwaanhuis

Nutritional advice

A balanced diet is a key requirement for a healthy life. Diabetics, people with a heart and circulatory disease, rheumatoid arthritis patients and people with extra weight must pay extra attention to their diet. As a patient, you can appeal to the

diet service of Wit-Gele Kruis for professional nutritional advice.

These consultations will preferably take place at a local Wit-Gele Kruis division, but, if necessary, they can take place at home and always at very democratic prices.

T. 014-24 24 10 www.witgelekruis.be/ voedingsadvies

Wit-Gele Kruis attaches great impor-tance to the quality of caregiving. Therefore, we are very interested in your opinion. By focusing on the elements mentioned in complaints and surveys, we work on the

improvement of our care quality and services.

Complaints

Do you not feel comfortable with a certain working method? Does your nurse often deviate from the agreed upon time? Has a mistake been made? … Let us know.

First of all, it is important to discuss a problem with your nurse. A small frustration left unspoken can lead to a major problem.

Is it difficult to start a conversation with your nurse? You can also go to the department head. He/she can mediate to come to a solution, satis-factory for both you and your nurse. You will find the telephone number on the back of this brochure. Thirdly, you can also contact our

ombudsman on the number 014-24

24 24. This can be for a complaint or an annoying experience. But, ideas to improve our services or elements you are very satisfied with, are welcome too.

It teaches us what points we need to adjust and what points should remain as they are.

Those who prefer to make a com-plaint, comment or suggestion in

Your

opinion is

important

to us

writing, can do so anonymously via the evaluation sheet in the nursing file, or online via our website www.witgelekruis.be/ombudsdienst (in Dutch).

Interrogations

Of course, we learn not only from complaints. You might also receive a satisfaction survey in your post box, or we might contact you by

phone with few questions: have you

been sufficiently informed about the extensive services of Wit-Gele

Kruis? Are you sufficiently informed about the care that you receive? Do you know who you need to speak to if you have any questions? Do your nurses disinfect their hands? …

We are accessible 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, throughout the year, for more information or for a care request. Call your local Wit-Gele Kruis division or call our provincial office.

We will make sure that you get in contact with the right person as soon as possible. Provincial office Nonnenstraat 12 bus 1 2200 Herentals T. 014-24 24 24 info@wgkantwerpen.be Division Antwerp Turnersstraat 36 bus 1 2020 Antwerpen T. 03-286 98 64 Antwerpen@wgkantwerpen.be Division Boom Tuyaertsstraat 71 2850 Boom T. 03-888 94 64 Boom@wgkantwerpen.be Division Geel J.B. Stessensstraat 1A 2440 Geel T. 014-58 14 75 Geel@wgkantwerpen.be Division Heist-op-den-Berg Boudewijnlaan 39 2220 Heist-op-den-Berg T. 015-24 44 25 Heist-op-den-berg@wgkantwerpen.be Division Herentals Nonnenstraat 12 bus 1 2200 Herentals T. 014-21 22 36 Herentals@wgkantwerpen.be Division Kalmthout Kapellensteenweg 77 2920 Kalmthout T. 03-666 70 84 Kalmthout@wgkantwerpen.be Division Lier Keizershof 6 bus 1 2500 Lier T. 03-480 91 10 Lier@wgkantwerpen.be Division Mechelen-Puurs Antwerpsesteenweg 259 2800 Mechelen T. 015-21 74 40 Mechelen-Puurs@wgkantwerpen.be Division Merksem Van Praetlei 135 2170 Merksem T. 03-646 67 68 Merksem@wgkantwerpen.be Division Mol

Ed Van Hoofstraat 13 bus 1 2400 Mol T. 014-31 37 80 Mol@wgkantwerpen.be Division Mortsel Liersesteenweg 178B 2640 Mortsel T. 03-454 25 35 Mortsel@wgkantwerpen.be Division Rijkevorsel Drijhoek 25 bus 3 2310 Rijkevorsel T. 014-61 48 02 Rijkevorsel@wgkantwerpen.be Division Turnhout De Merodelei 185 2300 Turnhout T. 014-41 46 91 Turnhout@wgkantwerpen.be Division Westerlo Sint-Lambertusstraat 33C 2260 Westerlo T. 014-54 54 47 Westerlo@wgkantwerpen.be Division Zoersel Frans Hensbergenstraat 39 2980 Zoersel T. 03-383 23 85 Zoersel@wgkantwerpen.be

How can you

contact us?

Would you like to have additional information about one of the subjects below? Please surf to our website

www.witgelekruis.be (in Dutch) or

notify your nurse. He/she will ensure that you receive the correct info. Attention: the leaflets below are only available in Dutch. • Personenalarm • Gezinszorg • Voedings- en dieetadvies • Nachtverpleging • Vroedvrouwendienst • Sleutelkluisje

• Veilig omgaan met cytostatica

• Als mantelzorger een

verpleegkundige zorg uitvoeren • Geïnformeerde toestemming

voor het delen van je gezondheidsgegevens

• Wachten en waken aan het sterfbed • Voorzorgsmaatregelen bij

besmet-telijke aandoeningen • Patiëntenrechten (overheid) • Een veilige werkplek voor je

thuisverpleegkundige • Valpreventie

Wit-Gele Kruis Antwerp regularly publishes new info brochures. Feel free to ask your nurse about it.

Do you need

any additional

information?

This brochure is an edition of Wit-Gele Kruis van Antwerpen vzw. Responsible editor: Stefaan Sarens – Wit-Gele Kruis van Antwerpen vzw – Nonnenstraat 12 bus 1 – 2200 Herentals. Donations are always welcome on the account number BE41 0014 0737 4010, BIC: GEBABEBB (stating “Gift WGKA”).

INFO & QUESTIONS?

Call us 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for more information or for a care request at the number 014-24 24 24. You can also request additional infor-mation via info@wgkantwerpen.be.

Wit-Gele Kruis van Antwerpen vzw Nonnenstraat 12 bus 1 2200 Herentals T. 014-24 24 24 info@wgkantwerpen.be www.witgelekruis.be Follow us on:

Important telephone numbers

Emergency number 112

Police 101

Kinder- en Jongerentelefoon ‘Awel’

(Children- and youth’s telephone) 102 Rode Kruis Vlaanderen

(Red Cross Flanders) 105

Tele-onthaal (Tele reception) 106

Zelfmoordlijn (Suicide line) 1813

Child Focus 116000

Anonieme Alcoholisten

(Alcoholics Anonymous) 03-239 14 15

Antigifcentrum

(Anti poison centre) 070-245 245

Brandwondencentra

(Burn wounds centre) 02-268 62 00

Civiele bescherming

(Civil protection) 050-81 58 41

De druglijn (Drug line) 078-15 10 20

Diabetes infolijn

(Diabetes info line) 0800-96 333

Kankerfoon (Cancer phone) 0800-15 802

Kankerlijn (Cancer line) 078-150 151

Meldpunt bejaardenmishandeling

(Hotline Elderly Abuse) 078-15 15 70

Zelfmoordpreventie