Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice

A not-for-profit, independent home caregivers and hospice agency
providing optimal health and quality of life since 1950.

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Home Care Services

Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice Home Care is intermittent care – care provided several times a week or less for a short period of time – that requires special skills not ordinarily carried out by a lay person. Care may be provided more often if the medical condition of the patient requires it, but it is not private duty nursing. Care is provided by professionals and paraprofessionals.

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“The hospice nurses who visited my mother from Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice, gave her the very best and kindest care. They were also her advocates so she could die with dignity and according to her wishes. My mother was comforted, while remaining in familiar surroundings… Your Hospice nurses, aides, and wonderful chaplain were all gently guiding and helping me with information, listening, and suggesting ways to support my mother’s journey. I certainly miss my mother but feel that we came through together to the place she wanted and needed to be. I could not have steered this course without the steady support of the Hospice team.”

Hospice

Hospice is a form of care; it is not a place. Our hospice care is available to patients who have advanced diseases that are considered incurable. Hospice care is about living each day to its fullest and helps to make a patient’s last months and days as comfortable and fulfilling as possible…making every moment count. Hospice is a philosophy, not a place. Care is provided in the familiar surroundings of home or home-like setting. Care can also be provided in a long-term care setting or a hospital.

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Palliative Care

The Visiting Nurse Palliative Care is specialized medical care that focuses on reducing symptoms, pain, and stress caused by illness. It is appropriate at any stage of serious illness and can be provided alongside curative treatment. The goal of our Palliative Care is to improve quality of life for both patient and family. It is an extra layer of support whereby the team (physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, social workers, CNAs, pharmacists, dietitians) work together to provide a plan of care and offer guidance for complex medical decisions.

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Rehabilitation Services

The Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice Rehabilitation Team of VNS helps patients regain their independence
and achieve the goals they have set for mobility in the home. Upon returning home after

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Community Health

Community Health is a central part of the Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice mission. Our commitment to community health covers wellness programs, community flu clinics, adult blood pressure clinics, support groups (diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and bereavement), health research, community partnerships, and governmental lobbying for home health initiatives.

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Chocolate Brunch Culinary Cook-Off is March 31st

The “Chocolate Brunch Culinary Cookoff” will be Sunday, March 31 from 11-2 at the Hotel Viking. Chefs from around the state will create savory dishes with a chocolate twist and vie for your vote as “Top Chef”! Grab yourself a mimosa, taste the competing chef’s samples, shop at the silent auction, sit down to a full seated brunch and listen to the “celebrity” judges panels, with judges like Eli from Eli’s Kitchen talk about what they liked and didn’t like. This is a great way to spend a March Sunday with good eating, drinking, and gifts/prizes…all while supporting Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice. Buy tickets here.

New February/March Bereavement Support Group

A new bereavement support group will be held on 6 Thursdays starting February 28 through April 4 from 10:30-noon at the Portsmouth office, 1184 East Main Road. The program addresses a variety of topics designed to help, heal and support those who have lost a loved one. Free and open to the public. To register call Mary Holland at (401) 682-2100 x 1613 or email mholland@visitingnursehh.org

Who Can Identify This Photo? We Can!

The Newport Daily News ran this photo on the front page on January 5th and asked the public who could identify the photo? We can!! This photo is of 6 Newport Public Health Nurse Association nurses, which was Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice’s name circa 1961. The photo was found in a file cabinet that was purchased from Transcom Electronics, the previous owner of our building at 1184 East Main Road in Portsmouth.

Jennifer Fairbank is Named New CEO

The Board of Directors of Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice is pleased to announce the appointment of Jennifer W. Fairbank, RN, BSN, CNHA to be the next Chief Executive Officer of the agency. Stacey D. Carter, President of the Board, states: “We are excited to bring Jennifer Fairbank on board to succeed retiring CEO Candace Sharkey, whose shoes will be hard to fill. Ms. Fairbank’s executive leadership will expand upon the successes that Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice has recently experienced.”

Visiting Nurse’s Mission Statement

The mission of the Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice is to provide community services that promote optimal health and quality of life for individuals and families

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