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Pediatric Private Duty Services

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Private Duty Nursing consists of a nurse or nurses tending to the child or infant for an entire shift or shifts, usually 6-8 hours per day up to 24 hours per day.

Our company offers a total package of pediatric programs and services designed exclusively for infants, children and adolescents. We work with physicians, family members and the entire healthcare team to develop a comprehensive plan of care addressing the client's goals and expectations. We recognize each client and their family has different needs, and requires a unique approach.

Who can benefit from pediatric home health care? Infants and children with the following conditions:

  • Cardiac abnormalities
  • Apnea
  • Respiratory diagnoses
  • Prematurity
  • Neurological impairment
  • Orthopedic conditions
  • Digestive disorders
  • Birth and congenital defects
  • Infections
  • Recuperating from surgery, burns or accidents
  • Terminal illness
  • American Home Health's personnel are thoroughly versed in administering the most sophisticated therapies in the home:
  • Ventilator Care
  • Oxygen Therapy
  • Tracheostomy Care
  • BiPAP or CPAP
  • Intravenous Therapy
  • Wound Care
  • Ostomy Care
  • TPN – Total Parenteral Nutrition
  • Monitoring Devices
  • Tube Feedings

For more information, please contact American Home Health. Our phone number is 630-236-3501.

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Pediatric Home Health Services

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This includes registered nurses and therapists providing intermittent visits to instruct family members in the care of the child or infant. They will instruct the client or his family until they are competent with the care. Then on a regular basis they will continue to visit the client to assess progress, reinforce the doctors' plans and assist the client to meet their goals. The frequency of the visits and duration of how long the nurse or therapist continues to visit the client is specific to each case.

  • This type of care could include:
  • Pre or Post Surgical Care
  • Respiratory Diagnosis
  • Cardiac Diagnosis
  • Cancer
  • Transplant
  • Wounds
  • Rehabilitative Services
  • Chronic or Acute IV Therapy
  • Pain Management

Examples of Services:

  • Client and Family Education
  • Assessments
  • Lab Draws
  • Asthma Education
  • Diabetic Education
  • Wound Care
  • Tube Feedings
  • Enterostomal Care
  • Bowel Program
  • Respiratory Nursing Care
  • Infusion Therapy Services

Rehabilitation Services: Serving clients with acute and chronic disabling conditions such as those caused by neurologic, musculoskeletal, congenital and genetic disorders. Services include:

  • Physical Therapy – Home Exercise Program, Gait Training, Transfer Training, Home Safety Evaluation
  • Occupational Therapy – Adaptive Equipment for ADL's, Home Safety
  • Speech Therapy – Swallowing Exercises, Speech and Communication

For more information, please contact American Home Health. Our phone number is 630-236-3501.

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Adult Supportive Services

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Adult Supportive Services: Serving clients without the need for skilled care when the care of a paraprofessional could mean they can remain in their homes safely and cost effectively.

  • Nurse's Aide – for bathing, grooming, hygiene, transferring, toileting and other personal care needs
  • Companions Care – to help with light housekeeping, meal preparation, errands, transportation, grocery shopping and recreational activities
  • Dementia Care – to provide safety and personal care to clients with moderate to advanced levels of dementia
  • Respite Care for the Family – to provide rest for family caregivers during emergencies or for vacations

For more information, please contact American Home Health. Our phone number is 630-236-3501.

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Adult Infusion Nursing Services

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Our trained team of dedicated professionals consists of highly qualified individuals to ensure you are receiving the most comprehensive care available in the privacy of your own home. AHHC delivers care with quality, compassion, and reliability.

Here are some of the features of American Home Health Infusion Nursing:

  • Continuity of care. Each client is assigned a nurse to provide all of the client’s care. This ensures the nurse’s familiarity with the client’s condition and care and forms a bond of trust with the client.
  • One Point of Contact for referral, labs, updates, status changes. We make it easy to find the answers.
  • Experienced nurses providing pediatric, transplant, cardiac and specialty care
  • Ability to provide nursing for any type of infusion approved for home health administration
  • We also provide other disciplines: Therapist, Home Health Aides, Private Duty Nursing
  • Specialize in patient education
  • Highly skilled, able to provide care for a variety of infusion devices (central lines, epidural lines or perform peripheral IV starts)
  • Comprehensive assessment of all patients during each phase of treatment
  • Blood draws, monitoring of lab results, reporting of lab results to the infusion team
  • “On Call” RN for client support and after-hours visits
  • Clinical updates provided to physicians and case managers on a regular basis
  • Work with most payor sources
  • Medicare Certified, Joint Commission Accredited, State Licensed

For more information, please contact American Home Health. Our phone number is 630-236-3501.

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LUPUS: “THE WOLF”

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Forty years ago, a teacher at a Catholic elementary school invited the faculty members and their husbands and wives to a Christmas party in her home.  It was an opportunity to socialize, to have fun together.  The women wore their long dresses, and the men wore suits.  Everyone was excited to attend.

Since these faculty members worked together every day, they were at ease with each other.  As each couple arrived, the hostess and guests greeted them.  The house was filled with chatter and laughter.

When all guests had arrived, the hostess announced that she had a surprise for them.  She had enlisted the services of a palm reader, who would tell their futures.  Each person would meet individually with the palm reader in a separate room.  The palm reader would examine the individual’s hand life lines, love lines, and give a reading.  It was simply a party game.  What could go wrong?

Everyone was having a good time until Marie came out of her meeting with the palm reader.  Marie’s face was ashen.  She walked directly to her husband and whispered something to him.  The room became unnaturally quiet.  It was as if all of the air had gone out of a balloon.

Apparently, Marie had received bad news, very bad news.  The palm reader had told Marie that she had lupus, a fatal illness.  How would a palm reader know that?  And what is lupus?

According to WebMD, “Lupus is one of many disorders of the immune system known as autoimmune diseases.  The (patient’s) immune system turns against parts of the body it is designed to protect.  This results in inflammation and damage to various body tissues.  Lupus can affect many parts of the body, including the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood vessels, and brain.”

A National Resource Center on Lupus article at https://www.lupus.org/resources states that lupus was identified in the classical period (1230—1856).  The word lupus (Latin for “wolf”) is attributed to the thirteenth century physician Rogerius who used it to describe the erosive facial lesions which were reminiscent of a wolf’s bite.

If you have a family member who suffers from lupus and needs private duty nursing, call American Home Health at (630) 236-3501.  The agency can provide round-the-clock nursing care by Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs).  Our service area covers fifteen counties in Northern Illinois including Cook, Lake, McHenry, Boone, Winnebago, Ogle, Lee, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, LaSalle, Grundy, Will, and Kankakee.  American Home Health is licensed by the State of Illinois and accredited by the Joint Commission.  For further information, go to www.ahhc-1.com, or call (630) 236-3501.

—By Karen Centowski

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EISENHOWER’S BATTLE WITH CROHN’S DISEASE

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Born October 14, 1890 in Denison, Texas, Dwight David Eisenhower was raised in Kansas.  He graduated from West Point in 1915 and began his military career.

During World War II, he was a five-star general in the United States Army and served as supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe.  According to Wikipedia, he was responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942-1943 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-1945 from the Western Front.

In 1953 at the age of sixty-two, Eisenhower was elected the 34th President of the United States.  On May 10, 1956, six months before being re-elected for a second term, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

What is Crohn’s disease?  According to the Mayo Clinic article “Crohn’s Disease—Symptoms and Causes” at https://www.mayoclinic.orgdiseases-conditions/crohns-disease. It is an inflammatory bowel disease which causes inflammation of the digestive tract.  It can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, and malnutrition.  Symptoms can range from mild to severe.

The exact cause of Crohn’s disease is unknown.  According to the Mayo Clinic article, risk factors for Crohn’s disease may include the following:

  • Age.  Crohn’s disease can occur at any age, but most people are diagnosed before they are thirty years old.
  • Ethnicity. Crohn’s disease can affect any ethnic group, but whites and people of Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jewish descent have the highest risk.
  • Family history. If you have a close relative with the disease, such as a parent, sibling, or child, you are at higher risk to develop the disease.
  • Cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking is the most important controllable risk factor for developing Crohn’s disease.
  • Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications. These include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, and others), naproxen sodium (Aleve), diclofenac sodium (Voltaren) and others.

Eisenhower served two terms in office from January 20, 1953 to January 20, 1961.  He died March 28, 1969.

If you have a family member who has a serious illness and needs private duty nursing, call American Home Health at (630) 236-3501.  The agency can provide round-the-clock nursing care by Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs).  Our service area covers fifteen counties in Northern Illinois including Cook, Lake, McHenry, Boone, Winnebago, Ogle, Lee, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, LaSalle, Grundy, Will, and Kankakee.  American Home Health is licensed by the State of Illinois and accredited by the Joint Commission.  For further information, go to www.ahhc-1.com, or call (630) 236-3501.

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DIAGNOSIS: RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

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Sandra was forty years old when she first noticed that the joints in her hands and toes were tender, warm, and swollen. In the mornings, the joints were stiff, and her body ached. She said she felt like she had been run over by a Mack Truck. She knew something was wrong so she made an appointment with her doctor.

The following week she met with her doctor. Sandra described her current symptoms (pain, stiffness, tenderness, warm and swollen joints). The doctor examined each joint, looking for tenderness, swelling, warmth, and painful or limited motion. He noted that the joints on both sides of her body were affected. (Rheumatoid arthritis tends to affect joints on both sides of the body.)

Next, the doctor ordered blood tests to measure inflammation levels. The blood tests also look for biomarkers such as antibodies (blood proteins) linked with rheumatoid arthritis.

Finally, he ordered a magnetic resonance imaging scan (MRI) to look for joint damage, such as loss of bone within the joint and narrowing of joint space. Note that the lack of joint damage does not rule out rheumatoid arthritis. It may mean that the disease is in an early stage and hasn’t yet damaged the joints.

While she waited for the results of the tests, Sandra researched osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis on her computer. She discovered that osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. According to https://www.everday health.com/rheumatoid-arthritis, it affects over 30 million adults in the United States. It is also known as degenerative arthritis, and it is also called wear-and-tear arthritis. Osteoarthritis typically occurs in older adults.

By contrast, rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune, inflammatory, systemic disease. The immune system attacks healthy cells in the body by mistake. This results in inflammation, pain, and swelling in affected body parts. Rheumatoid arthritis typically attacks several joints symmetrically. It may also affect organs such as the heart, lungs, and eyes.

The test results showed that Sandra did indeed have rheumatoid arthritis. What caused this? Doctors don’t know what causes rheumatoid arthritis. However, according to https://www.mayoclinic.org, the following risk factors have been identified:

  • Being female.
  • Your age. Rheumatoid arthritis most commonly begins between the ages of 40 to 60.
  • Family history. If a member of your family has rheumatoid arthritis, you may have an increased risk of getting the disease.
  • Smoking. Cigarette smoking increases your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.
  • Environmental exposure. Exposure to asbestos or silica may increase your risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis.
  • Obesity. People who are overweight or obese appear to be at somewhat higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis, especially women diagnosed with the disease when they were 55 or younger.

If you have a family member who has a serious illness and needs private duty nursing, call American Home Health at (630) 236-3501. The agency can provide round-the-clock nursing care by Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs). Our service area covers fifteen counties in Northern Illinois including Cook, Lake, McHenry, Boone, Winnebago, Ogle, Lee, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, LaSalle, Grundy, Will, and Kankakee. American Home Health is licensed by the State of Illinois and accredited by the Joint Commission. For further information, go to www.ahhc-1.com, or call (630) 236-3501.

—By Karen Centowski