February 2022
Dana
Brown
,
BSN, RN-CMSRN
6B Cardiology
Audie Murphy VA Hospital
San Antonio
,
TX
United States
The Veteran built a good rapport with Ms. Brown and shared with her his feelings of anxiety.
I want to acknowledge Ms. Brown for her hard work and dedication. I would like to share one of the many examples of how Ms. Brown goes above and beyond. Ms. Brown was providing discharge teaching for a homeless Veteran with an admission diagnosis of hyperglycemia. During the interaction between Ms. Brown and this Veteran, she discovered the patient’s vehicle was stolen just prior to admission and he did not have a glucose meter needed to continuously monitor his blood sugar. Ms. Brown quickly worked with the Medicine Team to have a new meter ordered and picked it up from Prosthetics. Ms. Brown completed a comprehensive and thorough assessment of the Veteran's ability to administer his ordered insulin pens. As she spoke with the Veteran, she noted the insulin pens were more of a challenge and he preferred insulin vials. Ms. Brown discussed the Veteran's concerns with the Medicine Team and they changed the order. The Veteran built a good rapport with Ms. Brown and shared with her his feelings of anxiety. He was notified by Social Work that his van was located, and they provided the address of where it was parked. His concerns stemmed from not knowing how to get to the van and how he would take custody, as his identification was inside the van. Ms. Brown was able to work with the Social Worker to get him a bus pass and looked up the bus routes and pickup times. She also coordinated with Eligibility and Enrollment to have the Veteran issued another identification card to ensure he was able to meet the requirements to get his van. Lastly, Ms. Brown understood that our homeless Veteran population is an at-risk population for both COVID-19 and Flu partly due to their living circumstances. Ms. Brown educated the Veteran on the benefits of both vaccinations and the patient accepted.