District nurses are highly-skilled registered nurses who have undertaken a specialist qualification in community nursing.
The district nursing team includes registered community staff nurses who can provide skilled, complex nursing care and community healthcare assistants who support registered nurses with specificaspects of nursing care.
Registered nurses have a responsibility for training and planning learning experiences for student nurses. Student nurses may accompany staff on their visits and participate in nursing care.
Response times
The district nursing service has an agreed variety of response times. It is not an emergency service but will respond within the following time frames:
- urgent: within two to four hours e.g. symptom control, blocked catheter
- non-urgent: usually within 24 hours e.g. by-passing catheters, constipation, wound management
- planned: routine visits e.g. changing dressings, hospital discharges, continence.
Key information about this service
Home nursing will be provided to patients who are housebound - that is, those who require medical transport to enable them to leave their home. We also visit patients where either their diagnosis or the nursing procedure means that home is the best place for the care to take place.
Access can be via our supporting services and Dorset's acute hospitals in Dorchester, Bournemouth and Poole. Self-referral and requests from family, friends and carers can be made, and will be assessed for appropriateness.
The patient, where able, must give permission before they are referred.
Please let the nursing team know if you are not going to be available when your visit is due.
It remains your responsibility to ensure that dressings and medications are available for the home visit.
Please ensure that you provide liquid soap and a clean towel/paper towel or kitchen rollfor hand washing.
We expect all staff to be treated with courtesy and respect at all times. We ask that patients or others in the home do not smoke during the nurse’s visit and that any pets be secured away from the area of care before the nurse arrives.
You will be asked for consent to share information with your GP, specialist nurse or others who support your health and social needs. All your confidential informationwill be kept securely and only essential information shared.
The team will undertake an holistic assessment of your health needs. This may mean referral to a more appropriate service if required.
A basic folder outlining nursing care plans will be left in your home and can be shared with other people or agencies who visit you to support your health needs.
The nurses will aim to actively involve you or your significant others in the nursing care that is planned following assessment. The nurse will consider your preferences within the constraints of available resources.
The nursing team will aim to work with you and your significant others to maximise your independence. This may include signposting you to other services to meet your needs. The nurses will provide your planned care, support, information and advice to minimise complications associated with any healthproblems that you have.
We aim to put you at the centre of what we do to ensure that you have a say in your care.
Your GP surgery can provide contact details for a team during its opening hours.
The service is not an emergency service and you may be required to leave a message on an answer phone and a member of the team would get back to you.
For urgent out of hours requests (5pm- 8am on weekdays, weekends and bank holidays), call 0300 3690530.