What should you do if you discover cockroaches in a client's home?

Answer 1

I assume you are asking about a client receiving Home Health Care services.

"Should" would be to report it to agencies, such as the County Health Dept, to get help for the patient / family. The "should" would apply especially for homes with vulnerable persons like children, disabled, and elderly. Often, the actions a nurse or home health aide takes could result in the family being ordered from the home, and even having elderly moved to facilities.

However, the "should" in community health care does not always match realities. Poor families, including elderly, do not always have the resources or means to fight an insect infestation. A patient might be forced to move to a facility, but that does not include other family members. So, many times, nurses practice "do less harm" -- they evaluate each situation, do not over-react with seeing evidence of cockroaches (or mice), and try to help the family without uprooting them. For example, a male elderly patient was scheduled for in-patient cancer surgery. He was expected to be in the hospital for at least 3 days. The nurse worked with the wife to identify adult family members to let her stay with them while the family members hired an extermination company to treat the house completely. Extermination was completed on day 1. Day 2 and 3 the house was left empty. The patient was not discharged for 5 days. The wife returned home on day 4. The family was reunited the next day. The nurse continued home care services with home health aides. About a month later, the patient died from his cancer which ended home care services. The wife's niece and her husband moved in to help the elderly woman manage the house and continue to observe for more cockroaches and continue to treat when needed.