Melanie Swanson
June 2023
Melanie
Swanson
,
RN
Saint Louis Park Clinic
University of Minnesota Physicians
Saint Louis Park
,
MN
United States
Not only does she know ALL of our patients' current and past history, but she is also insightful about their patterns of behavior and can anticipate worsening conditions and potential complications.
Melanie is the glue that holds our clinic together. As a nurse coordinator of our treatment-resistant Depression clinic, she advocates for and works with patients daily in our six-psychiatrist practice and manages the needs of our very ill patients with careful attention and professionalism that we could not function without. For our TMS procedure patients, not only is she a calm, consistent presence at treatments but a fearsome advocate with insurance companies to secure prior authorization for needed treatment. She uplifts our clinic with her positive can-do attitude, introducing a good news section to our weekly case conference that always brightens my day.
***
Mel is the lead nurse for our clinic, which works with psychiatric patients who have difficult to treat depressive symptoms. She coordinates a team of 6 MDs working with 2 RNs. It isn't herding cats, it's herding cats who have each had a double catnip espresso. We deliver complex treatments requiring multiple prior authorizations, drugs delivered from pharmacies to clinic, and frequent logistic challenges. Mel manages it all and makes it look easy. She always has a smile, always gets it done, and always knows exactly where everything is and who needs to do what to make it happen. If she left tomorrow, we'd all go to wherever she was now working.
***
In our Interventional Psychiatry Clinic, many of our patients have both ongoing and acute care needs. Melanie (Mel) Swanson is highly responsive to all of our patients' needs. For example, she provides support and care to patients who are acutely suicidal, fearful, and confused with skill, compassion, and respect. The range of her skills is awe-inspiring, including neuromodulation. Her professionalism in all respects is absolutely exceptional. An ideal collaborator, clinical partner, and team member, Mel inspires all of us.
***
Mel is simply the glue to our Interventional Psychiatry clinic. Our outpatient clinical program for treatment-resistant depression is a complex environment to practice with very high acuity patients, who normally would be treated in a day program in a hospital setting rather than an outpatient setting. In a sense, we are akin to intensivists but operate in an outpatient setting. Mel is remarkable on so many levels. Not only does she know ALL of our patients' current and past history, but she is also insightful about their patterns of behavior and can anticipate worsening conditions and potential complications. She is versatile in her communication skills and medical knowledge base. Somehow, she is able to attend to all incoming calls, communicate with each provider in their preferred and most efficient way, translate that into actionable items, and make the time to follow up with patients to ensure proper optimal outcomes. Mel is also adept at psycho-education and handles all our transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) consenting processes. TMS is one of the very few procedures in psychiatric practices. Not many nurses can claim to have the knowledge to administer TMS and train others to do so. And despite being overworked (and honestly underpaid), she manages to excel at being a care coordinator, a TMS and ketamine administrator, and a careful and attentive nurse, all with a smile and a cheerful attitude. Morbidity and mortality in treatment-resistant depression patients are high. Suicide rates are expected to be around 10%. Thankfully, our program's rates are substantially lower. One major reason is that we have Mel as a colleague.
***
Mel is the lead nurse for our clinic, which works with psychiatric patients who have difficult to treat depressive symptoms. She coordinates a team of 6 MDs working with 2 RNs. It isn't herding cats, it's herding cats who have each had a double catnip espresso. We deliver complex treatments requiring multiple prior authorizations, drugs delivered from pharmacies to clinic, and frequent logistic challenges. Mel manages it all and makes it look easy. She always has a smile, always gets it done, and always knows exactly where everything is and who needs to do what to make it happen. If she left tomorrow, we'd all go to wherever she was now working.
***
In our Interventional Psychiatry Clinic, many of our patients have both ongoing and acute care needs. Melanie (Mel) Swanson is highly responsive to all of our patients' needs. For example, she provides support and care to patients who are acutely suicidal, fearful, and confused with skill, compassion, and respect. The range of her skills is awe-inspiring, including neuromodulation. Her professionalism in all respects is absolutely exceptional. An ideal collaborator, clinical partner, and team member, Mel inspires all of us.
***
Mel is simply the glue to our Interventional Psychiatry clinic. Our outpatient clinical program for treatment-resistant depression is a complex environment to practice with very high acuity patients, who normally would be treated in a day program in a hospital setting rather than an outpatient setting. In a sense, we are akin to intensivists but operate in an outpatient setting. Mel is remarkable on so many levels. Not only does she know ALL of our patients' current and past history, but she is also insightful about their patterns of behavior and can anticipate worsening conditions and potential complications. She is versatile in her communication skills and medical knowledge base. Somehow, she is able to attend to all incoming calls, communicate with each provider in their preferred and most efficient way, translate that into actionable items, and make the time to follow up with patients to ensure proper optimal outcomes. Mel is also adept at psycho-education and handles all our transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) consenting processes. TMS is one of the very few procedures in psychiatric practices. Not many nurses can claim to have the knowledge to administer TMS and train others to do so. And despite being overworked (and honestly underpaid), she manages to excel at being a care coordinator, a TMS and ketamine administrator, and a careful and attentive nurse, all with a smile and a cheerful attitude. Morbidity and mortality in treatment-resistant depression patients are high. Suicide rates are expected to be around 10%. Thankfully, our program's rates are substantially lower. One major reason is that we have Mel as a colleague.