Meet the Team: Becky Desaulniers, RN, BS & Susan Murtha, RN, BSN
Both Becky Desaulniers and Susan Murtha have been registered nurses for over 30 years and have extensive experience working in home health. They are currently clinical review specialists for the ACHC Home Health Accreditation Program.
Posted: December 23, 2025
INTERVIEWER: First off, I’m so pleased you both wanted to do this as a team. You’re our first expert duo!
SUSAN: Thanks for having us.
BECKY: We’re glad to be here!
INTERVIEWER: You’re both clinical review specialists at ACHC. Help our readers understand what that entails.
SUSAN: As clinical review specialists, we do a variety of things.
BECKY: A big part of our job is reviewing home health surveys after the documentation comes in from the surveyor. Surveyors are onsite at the agency. They collect data based on home visits, interviews, and documentation review. The ACHC Surveyor doesn’t determine the final survey results. This is done in our daily review committee.
SUSAN: We make that final determination as a group, and it’s unanimous. We look at each survey individually. We discuss every deficiency. We have a high standard at ACHC. We want multiple sets of eyes to review, discuss, and make the final survey decision.
INTERVIEWER: Are there standards that always cause confusion? What are some common deficiencies?
BECKY: That’s hard to answer, because every situation is different.
SUSAN: I’d say we do see a high number of home health deficiencies related to the plan of care…. There are a lot of components to the plan of care. It usually boils down to documentation.
BECKY: Here’s an example. An agency could be cited for a patient having oxygen, but it’s not listed on the plan of care. There may be documentation in the medical record that the patient has oxygen, or it was observed during a surveyor-attended home visit. But since it isn’t on the plan of care, it becomes a deficiency.
SUSAN: The plan of care is the physician order, and it directs the care that Is provided to the patient. It facilitates the collaboration between the people working with the patient.
BECKY: So, if we use the same example of the patient on oxygen… If you’re the nurse coming in for the next visit and you don’t have an accurate plan of care, how do you know what liter flow the patient is supposed to be on? Is it continuous or as needed? And how can you teach the patient, and identify safety issues?
SUSAN: Yes. Patient safety. There are fire risks with oxygen. And it’s a medication; it could interact with their disease process. There are so many implications.
…that’s where I found my passion to provide care in the sanctity of the patient’s own home—where they are in a much better space to listen and understand and adapt. I thought, “This is where health care needs to be.”
INTERVIEWER: Let’s talk about you how you started out. How did you both come to ACHC?
BECKY: One of my very first jobs was as a home health aide. I loved it. So, I knew early on home health was what I wanted to do after I became an RN. I worked in a hospital right out of school and then I went into home health. That’s where most of my career has been.
I’ve held many roles—quality, compliance, operations. I ended up at a large agency, and one of my projects was preparing multiple locations for accreditation surveys. Along the way I developed a passion for digging into regulations and standards. ACHC was our accreditor. I really appreciated the collaboration and the availability. It was so easy to contact them with questions. The entire process, start to finish was seamless.
INTERVIEWER: Susan, did you start your nursing career in a hospital as well?
SUSAN: I spent the first 10 years in the intensive care unit, right out of nursing school. I was attracted to the high-tech aspect of it, and the autonomy that nurses had there. During my time working in the ICU, I always gravitated to working with the families and talking to them. And I realized I wanted to see the other side of it… What happens once they go home? So, I took a leap of faith and went directly into home health. And people thought I was crazy. (Laughs.) But that’s where I found my passion to provide care in the sanctity of the patient’s own home—where they are in a much better space to listen and understand and adapt. I thought, “This is where health care needs to be.”
I started as a case manager, then I worked my way up into a leadership role. At one point I was an executive director over six different locations. But in all my roles, I was intrigued by accreditation surveys. I always thought it would be so cool to be a surveyor!
When I had the opportunity to start with ACHC as a surveyor, and later, when I transitioned into my current role, I found out I’d been right. The roles have been a great fit.
INTERVIEWER: So, since you both are veterans in this field… Do you have any thoughts for new nurses who are figuring out what they want to do? Or even midcareer nurses looking for a change?
SUSAN: Consider going into home health! I’m actually very hopeful about the future of care in the home. In my opinion, being able to provide care in the home is a tremendous asset for any nurse. But this type of nursing is not for everyone.
BECKY: It requires confidence. You could have a patient with an IV, a wound vac, and some type of tube. So, you need to take care of this very acute patient on your own. You can’t go down the hall to confer with another nurse. You have to decide, “Is this patient going to be okay until I come back? Do I need to call the doctor?”
Critical thinking skills are mandatory, and a good sense of autonomy. Some people try this career, and they just don’t find It to be a good fit.
SUSAN: I agree with everything Becky said. I’ll also add that if you provide care in the home you must be willing to meet patients where they’re at. What I mean is, you’ll go into their environment which is their home. If you can’t accept how other people live, then this may not be the right career for you.
INTERVIEWER: Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers?
BECKY: Just know that we’ve been where you are now. We’ve been through many home health surveys in our careers.
SUSAN: Talk to your ACHC Account Advisor, let them know if you have questions about the standards. They’ll reach out to us. We want to help! Your success is our success.
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Read more articles about Home Health Accreditation here.