Tamara King

Tamara received a call from LS in Recruitment and Retention. She had come across a gentleman by the name of Mr. W at the south entrance that had concerns about his medications. He had discussed with her that Dr. A had put him on some medications and he needed to talk with him. Lisa called the nurse asking if she could intervene. She said she would speak with him since she knew Dr. A was seeing patients on the unit.

Mr. W. was a very slight built man sitting the waiting area with crutches leaning up against the chair next to him. As soon as he saw the nurse he quickly made the attempt to stand while reaching to shake her hand. She noticed he was favoring his left leg, so she motioned for him to sit back down and took the seat next to him. She introduced herself and asked how she could help him. His quick response was “I sure hope you can help me”. He immediately reached for the wallet in his jacket pocket and pulled out two neatly folded papers. He continued to explain to her that he had been discharged from a unit in our hospital two weeks ago and he didn’t understand the discharge instructions. He said the stomach medicine he was put on wasn’t working and he needed to see a doctor and he wanted to talk to Dr. A about the Seroquel he started him on while hospitalized on this other unit. He said he tried to call the nurse on the floor he was discharged from to come and see him but he couldn’t get through so he took a bus from Lake Wales to Winter Haven to try and get some assistance.

He said he had been hit in the knee and that is the reason he had come to the hospital for surgery.  He pulled up his pant leg to display the clean healing surgical scar across his left knee.  The papers he had with him were his discharge plans from the other unit.  The listed all his medications, and that he was to also receive home health care and physical therapy service.  There was a phone number next to the agency name.  That phone number had a Miami area code.  Also listed was the Sweet Center, now known as CBH with instructions to follow up with his medications (Seroquel) and it was accompanied by a number which was incorrect.  When she asked him if he had called either phone number, he told her that he didn’t have a phone in his motel room, where he is staying in Lake Wales.  He did say the motel office had a phone but they would not forward messages or allow him to make long distance phone call.

She was starting to get a clearer picture of Mr. W’s predicament.  He did not live near Winter Haven; he had limited funds, impaired mobility with use of crutches, public transportation to travel, and little family support.  Living in a motel room in Lake Wales without a phone and the motel office not forwarding messages would explain why the Home Health Agency couldn’t arrange a visit to see him.  He had an inaccurate number for the Sweet Center that wasn't listed in the phone book; therefore he couldn't arrange a follow up visit. After two weeks with his stomach discomfort not improving, he thought it best to take a bus back to the hospital to get some answers.  And here Mr. W. and the nurse sat in a waiting room off of the CFP unit.

Knowing it was Friday, in the afternoon, the odds of getting this resolved for him were a long shot, but she was going to try.  It ended up taking over two hours of calls to resolve this gentleman’s concerns.  She wrote down all that had been planned on his papers which he neatly folded back up and placed in his wallet and then put back into his jacket pocket.  He stood up and took a hold of his crutches, but then stopped to shake her hand one last time.  He smiled and said “thank you”.  Smiling back, she said “you are welcome, I’m glad I could help”, and escorted him back down the hallway, giving him directions to First Care.  She does not know what happened to Mr. W. and whether he actually kept his appointments with CBH or Home Health Care, but does know that sometimes a smile and a little help can make all the difference in the world.