Measuring the wound
The nurse checks its length, width and depth, so progress can be compared from one visit to the next.
Private home care · Ottawa
Wound Care at Home in Ottawa
Integracare looks after surgical incisions, examines feet affected by diabetes and removes stitches in your family member's home, following a plan written by a Registered Nurse (RN).
Personal support workers (PSWs) help prevent pressure injuries, also called bedsores, between visits. Nursing support is available 24/7.
Free in-home assessment. No obligation.
Healing at Home
When a Wound Needs Looking After
Some wounds arrive with a hospital discharge, such as a fresh incision after surgery. Others develop slowly in the house, like a sore on a heel or a foot problem linked to diabetes. Either way, someone has to change the dressing and spot the moment it starts to look worse.
Integracare takes on that work. Dressing changes, diabetic foot checks and other wound care are part of our nursing service across the Ottawa region. Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) make those visits.
Talk through your optionsNursing Visits
What an Integracare Nurse Does for a Wound
Every visit follows the written plan, and the nurse notes what has changed since the last one.
Looking at nearby skin
The skin around the edges gets a close look each time as well.
Fresh dressings
Old dressings come off and new ones go on using clean or sterile technique, whichever the wound and the orders call for, to keep germs away from the open wound during the change.
Infection checks
Every visit includes one. If the wound looks worse, the RN overseeing the plan hears about it and adjusts the steps.
After surgery
Surgical clips and stitches, also called sutures, are removed during a home visit.
Foot checks
For clients living with diabetes, the nurse examines both feet at each visit to help head off complications.
Coaching relatives
Before leaving, the nurse shows family members what a clean, intact dressing looks like, which changes to watch for between visits, and when to phone us.
Before Care Begins
An RN Assesses First and Writes the Plan
Before the first nursing visit, an RN meets your family member at home and looks at the wound and their overall health. The RN then writes the care plan and keeps oversight of it while healing progresses.
The plan sets out who does what. RPNs handle dressings, stitches and infection checks. PSWs, who help with bathing, meals, toileting and moving around the house, take on the daily steps that protect the skin. Each caregiver is matched to the client.
Invited relatives can see the visit schedule and read caregiver notes in the Family Room, Integracare's online portal, as the notes are recorded.
Pressure Injuries
Protecting Skin Between Nursing Visits
A pressure injury is damage to the skin and the tissue beneath it from resting in one position for too long.
If the RN finds a client at risk during the assessment, the plan gives the PSW specific steps for every shift. The PSW reports any red, sore or broken skin to the nurse, who decides what happens next.
PSW Visits
Daily Steps That Lower the Risk
The RN chooses which of these steps go into the plan and how often each one happens.
Changing position
The PSW helps your family member shift in bed or in a chair on the timetable the nurse sets.
Clean, dry skin
After washing or toileting, skin is patted dry, and damp sheets or clothing are swapped for fresh ones.
Pillows and cushions
Padding goes where the plan says, to take weight off bony areas such as heels and hips.
A look during personal care
Bathing and getting dressed are a good time to see the skin. Anything new is written in the visit notes and passed to the nurse.
Meals and drinks
PSWs prepare food and offer fluids during the shift, with reminders when the plan calls for them.
Plan Wound Care Before the Discharge Date
A free home assessment by an RN comes first. Call us while your family member is still in hospital, or as soon as a wound at home stops improving.
Public Home Care
How Our Visits Fit With Ontario Health atHome
Publicly funded home care in Ontario comes through Ontario Health atHome. Some of its wound visits happen at a community nursing clinic, by appointments the care coordinator books, with no walk-ins.
Families can also pay for private visits alongside the public ones: add our nursing or PSW hours, or arrange all wound care with us.
Getting Ready
What to Have on Hand for the Assessment
Having these ready helps the RN write an accurate plan.
Discharge papers
Any hospital instructions about the wound, the dressing type and the date clips or stitches are due out.
Supplies already in the house
Dressings, tape and cleansing products sent home from hospital or bought at a pharmacy.
A medication list
Every prescription and over-the-counter product your family member takes, with doses.
Doctors' names
Contact details for the surgeon, the family physician and any specialist following the wound.
Public home care details
The name and number of the Ontario Health atHome care coordinator, if one has been assigned.
Our Ottawa Team
Led Locally, Supported Around the Clock
Kristine McGinn leads Integracare in Ottawa from our office on Preston Street, with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) and more than 25 years in health care.
Nursing supervision and care management are available in English and French, so families can plan visits in either language.
Clients, their relatives and the PSWs who visit them can reach a nurse 24/7. Integracare has been a Canadian home care company since 1991.
Local Resources
Other Wound Care Help in Ottawa
Other organizations run these programs. Each sets its own rules, and Integracare is separate from all of them.
Ontario Health atHome: publicly funded home care for people who qualify. A care coordinator sets the services after an assessment, and Integracare visits can be added around them. In the Champlain area, which includes Ottawa, call 1-800-538-0520 (toll-free) or 613-745-5525.
Good to Know
Questions Families Ask About Wound Care at Home
Answers for Ottawa families arranging wound care for a parent, partner or relative.
Who changes the dressings?
Our RPNs, working from the plan an RN writes after the home assessment.
Can stitches or surgical clips come out at home?
Yes. Our nurses remove surgical clips and sutures during a home visit.
Who pays for wound care at home?
The province funds Ontario Health atHome visits for people who qualify. Integracare's visits are paid privately.
Where do the dressings come from?
The RN works out at the assessment which dressings the plan needs and checks what is already in the house. Integracare can arrange wound care supplies.
Does Integracare help prevent bedsores?
Yes. If the RN finds a client at risk of pressure injury, the plan gives the PSW steps for every visit, such as help changing position and a look at the skin during bathing.
What if the wound looks worse at night?
Call us. A nurse answers at any hour and can help you decide what to do next.
Other Services
More Care in Ottawa
Home Care in Ottawa
Nursing Care in Ottawa
Personal Support Workers in Ottawa
Palliative Care in Ottawa
24-Hour Home Care in Ottawa
Dementia Care in Ottawa
We also provide wound care in Greater Toronto and wound care in Winnipeg.
Free In-Home Assessment
Arrange Wound Care at Home in Ottawa
Tell us what you need. A nurse will contact you within one business day.
343 Preston Street, Suite 1104, Ottawa, ON K1S 1N4
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Ottawa(613) 212-7567 ↗We serve families across the Ottawa region. See the areas we cover
Clinically reviewed by Bethel McMaster, BScN, RN ·