I work with a Veteran who had a significant medical event, rendering him now homebound. He is quite isolated geographically and socially, and so, on his long road to recovery, it has been difficult to manage his myriad health needs (i.e. hypertension). The Veteran also had significant depression, and as you can imagine, it worsened with this isolation. In our therapeutic relationship, he has benefitted greatly from periodic check-ins, but these have become impossible since he cannot travel. I set him up with VA Video Connect and that has been a help, but I found we spent much of your time discussing his worries about his blood pressure, his meds, etc. I realized he was a perfect candidate for Community Care Home Telehealth and referred him.
From day one, Karie provided him exemplary care that has been a safety net for him. Because he knows she is monitoring his various medical conditions, and case managing or intervening when necessary, his anxiety and depression have decreased significantly. There are many services which I refer Veterans to internally and externally, but I rarely experienced the kind of collaboration, communication, and skill that I have enjoyed in working with her. She shows compassion, she provides timely and accurate/descriptive information which is so helpful to me as a colleague, she responds quickly, and she helps Veterans remain independent and in control just by empowering them to be knowledgeable about their self-care. I have since referred others to her, including someone who I thought would be a "hard sell". She signed him on the first call! She embodies the true spirit of nursing, and in all my years of experience with RNs, I'd rate her as one of the top performers I've had the pleasure of collaborating with.