Most nasal findings are minor, but two matter in home health: an epistaxis that will not stop in an anticoagulated or hypertensive patient can become a true emergency, and the nares of a patient on continuous oxygen are a common and preventable pressure-injury site. The skilled value of this domain is controlling bleeding, recognizing when it needs escalation, and protecting the skin under the cannula. Documentation that records “no nosebleed” without the anticoagulation context or a cannula skin check does not prove a nurse was required; controlling a bleed and preventing a pressure injury does.
The purpose of this module is to give the clinician the framework for nasal patency and epistaxis assessment and control, sinus-symptom evaluation, cannula-skin surveillance, and smell change — and the chartable language that demonstrates observation and assessment, skilled procedure, and teaching and training, with oxygen therapy routed to Respiratory.
