Care Lessons
SafeCare at home offers ten categories of care lessons that will inform and prepare you to safely and correctly care for someone in the home. Many of the lessons have videos in which you can view “hear the expert” and watch hands-on skills step-by-step. More videos will be added in the future.
See below for a description of each care lesson:
Giving Oxygen
Oxygen is a medicine and thus must be used carefully. This lesson describes how to correctly place a person on oxygen and use the devices that are available. You will learn the ways to use and store oxygen safely.
Recognizing and Relieving Pain
This care lesson teaches you how to care for someone who has pain. You will learn what to observe when a person is in pain and how to provide pain treatment and comfort measures safely.
Giving an Enema
Enemas clear the bowel and help people to pass stool more easily. It is important to know how to give an enema correctly and what to look for, especially before a person has surgery or a procedure like a colonoscopy.
Giving Medicines Safely
When you care for someone in the home, medicine safety is one of your most important jobs. This care lesson teaches you how to prepare and give medicines safely and what to do when a person has trouble taking medicines. The lesson offers information about side effects and allergies from medicines.
Inhalers
A person with chronic lung disease frequently uses medicine breathed in through the mouth to widen the airways making breathing easier. This lesson explains how to use inhalers safely and correctly to help control their disease.
Nebulizers
People with chronic lung problems often use nebulizers to deliver medicine in the form of a mist into their breathing passages. The medicines widen airway passages, reduce inflammation, and help make it easier to cough up mucous. This lesson explains the reasons for using a nebulizer, the effects of the medicines, and how to correctly use and clean a nebulizer.
Rectal Suppositories
If you provide care to a person who needs a rectal suppository, you need to know how to insert it correctly, the expected effects, and any problems to look for. Giving a suppository is safe and easy to do.
Subcutaneous Injections
If you care for a person who takes medicines by injection (a shot), you need to learn how to give an injection correctly and how to avoid injury to the person you care for. This care lesson teaches you how to use a syringe and an injection pen, how to give an injection, and what to look for after giving a medicine.
Infection Control
Any person who has an illness, disability, or who is older can easily get an infection. This care lesson teaches you the techniques of infection control, which can help you to make it less likely to catch an infection or to pass on an infection to the person you care for.
Disposal of Medical Waste
Medical waste is any object or piece of equipment that carries infectious material. This lesson explains the health risks from contacting medical waste and how to properly throw away items you use when caring for someone in the home.
Fall Prevention
Falls are a public health problem for people of all ages. This care lesson offers information about who is most at risk for falling, how to find safety risks in the home, and what to do to make the home a safer place to move about.
Dressing a Person
Illness can make it difficult for a person to dress, to put on their own clothes. This care lesson explains how to help a person, limited in the use of their arms or legs or who has memory problems like dementia, with dressing.
Foot Care
Some persons are more at risk for foot problems because they have a loss of feeling and/or poor circulation in their legs and feet. This care lesson contains guidelines for daily foot and toe nail care and how to help a person select good fitting shoes.
Mouth Care
Regular care and cleaning of the gums and teeth prevents infection, helps a person to eat, and offers a sense of comfort. This care lesson teaches you about common mouth problems and how to brush and rinse a person’s teeth correctly and safely.
Measuring Blood Glucose
Measuring blood glucose is a simple blood test that tells how well a person manages their diabetes. This lesson explains normal blood glucose, the problems of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, and how to select a glucose meter. You will also learn how to measure a blood glucose correctly, what to do if a glucose reading is abnormal, and safety tips on preventing infection.
Correct Use of Walkers
If a person has trouble walking because of poor balance or weakness in the legs, a walker might be useful. This care lesson explains how a person should be fitted for a walker, the types of walkers available, and how to keep a walker in good working order. You will also learn how a person should use a walker in the home and in public locations.
Moving Safely in the Home
If you care for someone who is limited in the way they walk and move, this care lesson shows you how to help a person walk and to move from a bed to a chair safely. You will also learn the risks for falling and what to do if a person falls in the home.
Wandering
Wandering refers to moving about without having a definite place to go or a purpose. It is common in people who have dementia. This care lesson explains the warning signs that tell you a person may begin to wander. The lesson explains ways for reducing wandering and for keeping the person you care for safe in their home.
Using a Wheelchair
This care lesson teaches you how to use a wheelchair safely and correctly and to protect the person you care for and yourself from injury. You will also learn about the different types of wheelchairs, how to select a chair, and how to keep one in good working order.
Aspiration Precautions
Aspiration is the accidental entrance of food or saliva into a person’s windpipe, a problem to look for in persons who have trouble swallowing. This care lesson explains the signs of difficulty swallowing, safe eating tips, and shows you step-by-step how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver when a person chokes on their food.
Feeding a Person
When a person needs help with eating, you want to protect their safety and independence. This care lesson teaches you about the types of persons who need help with eating and how to feed a person safely. The lesson also explains steps to prevent a person from choking on their food and what to do when choking occurs.
Applying Elastic Stockings
The use of compression or elastic stockings is one way to improve blood flow up through the veins and back to the heart to prevent clots from forming in the legs. This lesson will teach you what causes blood clots, how elastic stockings work, how to apply them correctly, and what to look out for to recognize problems in the person you provide care for.
Care after Surgery
Every person’s surgery is different. A surgeon will decide on the best steps to follow for recovery. This lesson describes what to expect after surgery, common medicines taken after surgery, and problems (complications) that can develop. This lesson also explains how to look at a wound, help relieve a person’s pain, and ways to promote recovery.
Care of Drainage Bags
This lesson describes common types of wound drains and the systems used to collect drainage. You will learn about the purpose of the devices, how to empty and manage a device correctly, the ways to reduce spread of infection and how to properly dispose of wound drainage.
Care of Stiches (Sutures)
Proper care of stitches or sutures is needed in order for a wound to heal without an infection. This lesson explains what a wound should look like, the signs of infection, ways to promote wound healing, and how to safely clean a wound.
Changing a Gauze Dressing
When a person’s wound is covered with a gauze dressing, you need to know what a normal healing wound looks like, the signs of infection, and the risks for infection. This lesson explains how to look at a wound to know if it is healing, how to cleanse a wound and how to apply a new clean gauze dressing.
Getting Ready for Surgery
This care lesson explains the many ways that you can help the person you care for prepare for surgery. You will learn the types of questions to ask during the first visit with a surgeon. The care lesson also explains the risks of surgery, activities to complete on the day before surgery, and the exercises a person can learn in preparing for recovery from surgery.
Observing a Person's General Health
When you care for someone who is ill, injured, disabled or has recently had surgery, it is important to watch them carefully. This care lesson prepares you to learn what is normal and what indicates a change in the person you care for. You will learn the signs of conditions, such as heart attack and stroke, which require you to seek emergency medical care. You will also learn how to listen to a person and to observe for physical and emotional changes.
Taking a Blood Pressure
If you care for a person who checks their blood pressure regularly at home, this care lesson describes how to select a blood pressure machine, how to measure a blood pressure correctly, and when to report readings to the doctor. You will also learn about hypertension (high blood pressure) and ways to control it.
Taking a Pulse
If you know how to check a person’s pulse you will be able to decide how the person responds to medicines, exercise, or an illness. This care lesson explains the factors that affect the heart rate, how to measure a pulse correctly, and how to recognize an abnormal pulse.
Taking a Temperature
When you care for someone who becomes ill at home, you need to know how to take their temperature to check for a fever. This care lesson explains factors that affect body temperature, the causes and signs of fever, and how to take a temperature. You will also learn basic ways to reduce a fever.