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Home Health Chronicles: The Good, The Bad, and The UglyAuthor: Home Health Chronicles
This podcast is all things home health! The good, the bad, and the ugly. Join me for hot topics, stories from the week, as well as questions submitted by you. I want you to know that you are not alone out there.., were all living in this crazy home health world together. Language: en Genres: Health & Fitness, Medicine Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Home Health Stories: Wellness Checks and a Visit Turned Terrifying
Episode 3
Saturday, 22 August, 2026
Trust your gut in home health - one missed warning sign can turn a routine visit into a crisis. In this eye-opening conversation, Lisa and physical therapist Mai Haynes share two real-world stories that every clinician should hear before stepping into another home.Mai, a physical therapist with 26 years of experience and 3.5 years in home health, recounts the moment she called for a police wellness check after a patient who had recently fallen down the stairs and been left undiscovered for 24 hours failed to answer the door. What looked like a possible emergency turned out to be a patient asleep inside - but the visit still uncovered abnormal vitals that needed medical follow-up, proving that acting on intuition can make all the difference.Then the conversation turns to a far more alarming encounter: a patient in an adult family home who suddenly jumped up, screamed, and moved aggressively toward Mai mid-visit. She explains how she positioned herself near the exit, backed out safely, and made the call not to return after learning the behavior had happened before and should have been flagged sooner.You'll hear:Why "better safe than sorry" can be the right clinical decision when a patient doesn't answerHow to handle a wellness check and when to escalate to police or 911What to look for before and during visits that might signal anger, aggression, or violenceWhy knowing your exits, keeping your bag clear, and trusting your instincts are non-negotiable in home healthHow strong manager support can change the outcome after an unsafe encounterThis episode is a reminder that home health can be unpredictable, and clinicians are often the only line between a patient getting help and a situation getting worse. If you work in the field, support people who do, or simply want to hear the kind of stories that sharpen your awareness, this one belongs in your queue.Essential listening for nurses, therapists, and anyone who enters patients' homes alone. Sometimes the most important skill isn't what you do in the visit - it's knowing when to leave.
