Part of the Team
February 2014
Multi
Team
,
RN, RT, CNA, Monitor Tech, Interpreter
CCU
Saint Alphonsus Medical Center - Ontario
Ontario
,
OR
United States
PICTURED: Back Row: Micah Wilson, RN, NP; Bobbie Turnipseed, RN; Deena Bay,RN; Vicky Stevens, RN: Karlen Burns, RN; Nancy Dale, Monitor Tech Front Row: Misty Gonzalez, RN; Hallie Scott, RN; Patient's Daughter, Patient's Husband, Rosa Vargas, Interpreter; Gloria Bailey, CNA
P was the young mother of two children; she and her family were undocumented aliens who lived in Nyssa when she began noticing generalized weakness of her arms and legs. Fairly rapidly, the weakness progressed and she sought medical help; the experts were not able to pin-point a diagnosis and she quickly became seriously ill.
Within a short period of time Petra was so ill she was admitted to the Critical Care Unit in Ontario and placed on a ventilator to support her respirations. For five months P lived in the CCU on the ventilator. The CCU staff had daily meetings to plan her care and map out a teaching plan for her young husband, who, despite having no family in the area, planned to take P home.
P's long-term care was not without controversy; was it the best use of medical resources to provide such intensive care to a non-citizen? Would it be more appropriate to return P to Mexico? The staff divided and loyalties were tested; but the commitment to P and her family never wavered as the team fulfilled a basic role - that of patient advocate; staff worked through their differences, forging an even stronger team to care for P, helping decrease her anxiety.
The communication barriers encountered while caring for the young non-English speaking family and totally paralyzed patient at times seemed monumental. The interpreters spent endless hours in the unit facilitating communication between P, her husband, their young children, and the staff. P, ever alert, communicated simple responses through blinking; one blink was "yes", two blinks was "no".
P remained in Ontario; her husband faithfully at her bedside daily, learning to care for her every need; from bathing, hair care, oral care, and on to the frightening tasks of learning to give her medications and care for her ventilator. The RT and nursing staff worked tirelessly, through an interpreter, to ensure he learned to "be a nurse" and be able to take his wife home.
Working one-on-one with the husband, staff would tell the interpreter one thing in English; she would tell him, then he would explain it back to the interpreter in Spanish, and the interpreter would relay the message back to the RT or RN. Learning for just the ventilator included lung and airway anatomy, ventilator management, what caused and how to respond to the multiple alarms, circuit changes, complete care of P's tracheotomy, including cleaning and replacing the inner cannulas, suctioning and how to use a resuscitation bag in case it was needed. Staff also created reference materials for him - which the interpreters translated into Spanish.
During the Christmas holiday the staff planned a party for P and her family; shopping for toys and clothes, a Christmas Tree, all the decorations, food and presents for everyone! Off duty staff came, bringing their children so P's children had playmates for the party, and on-duty staff peeked in, as the young mother watched her delighted children enjoy Christmas in the CCU.
The day finally arrived when P, fully ventilator dependent and helpless to provide any of her own care, went home. The hospital purchased and donated supplies; a hospital bed, ventilator, and the myriad of supplies needed to care for P. Home Health visited the first few weeks to provide foley care, but eventually her husband did even that. Local business leaders assisted the family, providing work for the husband that could be done around the time needed to be at home to care for P. "Really, it took the whole community to care for P", said one staff member.
For weeks, staff dropped in to visit and were honored to watch as P's children ran to their mother's bedside to excitedly share about their day at school. Her husband cared for her at home for a little over two years before her disease claimed her life; during that time she was seen in the ED only once and was never readmitted, never suffered with one bedsore; an immense tribute not only to the love and persistence of a young husband, but also to the staff who determinedly worked to ensure he knew how to provide such excellent care.
M. Chenevert wrote, "being a nurse means you will be frustrated, you will be surrounded by challenges, so much to do and so little time, you will see people at their worst, and at their best. You will never cease to be amazed at people's capacity for love, courage, and endurance. You will experience resounding triumphs and devastating failures, you will cry a lot, you will laugh a lot, you will know what it is to be humane, and to be human". The team who cared so diligently for P lived this truth.
Not Pictured: Andrea Lopez(RT), Kirk Pugsley(RT), Deb Anderson(RT), Chip Hale(RN), Ofilia Anderson,(Monitor Tech), Deb Ayers. (RN; Carmina Santan(Interpreter), Marcela Medrano,(Interpreter), Maria Gomez. (Interpreter)
The Multi-Disciplinary Care TEAM:
Hallie Scott, RN
Bobbie Turnipseed, RN
Micah Wilson, RN
Ofilia Anderson, Monitor Tech
Deb Anderson, RT
Rosa Vargas - Int.
Vicky Stevens, RN
Andrea Lopez, RT
Kirk Pugsley, RT
Deb Ayers, RN
Gloria Bailey, CNA
Misty Gonzalez, RN
Deena Bay, RN
Chip Hale, RN
Nancy Dale, Monitor Tech
Karlen Burns, RN
Carmina Santan, Int
Marcela Medrano, Int.
Maria Gomez, Int
P was the young mother of two children; she and her family were undocumented aliens who lived in Nyssa when she began noticing generalized weakness of her arms and legs. Fairly rapidly, the weakness progressed and she sought medical help; the experts were not able to pin-point a diagnosis and she quickly became seriously ill.
Within a short period of time Petra was so ill she was admitted to the Critical Care Unit in Ontario and placed on a ventilator to support her respirations. For five months P lived in the CCU on the ventilator. The CCU staff had daily meetings to plan her care and map out a teaching plan for her young husband, who, despite having no family in the area, planned to take P home.
P's long-term care was not without controversy; was it the best use of medical resources to provide such intensive care to a non-citizen? Would it be more appropriate to return P to Mexico? The staff divided and loyalties were tested; but the commitment to P and her family never wavered as the team fulfilled a basic role - that of patient advocate; staff worked through their differences, forging an even stronger team to care for P, helping decrease her anxiety.
The communication barriers encountered while caring for the young non-English speaking family and totally paralyzed patient at times seemed monumental. The interpreters spent endless hours in the unit facilitating communication between P, her husband, their young children, and the staff. P, ever alert, communicated simple responses through blinking; one blink was "yes", two blinks was "no".
P remained in Ontario; her husband faithfully at her bedside daily, learning to care for her every need; from bathing, hair care, oral care, and on to the frightening tasks of learning to give her medications and care for her ventilator. The RT and nursing staff worked tirelessly, through an interpreter, to ensure he learned to "be a nurse" and be able to take his wife home.
Working one-on-one with the husband, staff would tell the interpreter one thing in English; she would tell him, then he would explain it back to the interpreter in Spanish, and the interpreter would relay the message back to the RT or RN. Learning for just the ventilator included lung and airway anatomy, ventilator management, what caused and how to respond to the multiple alarms, circuit changes, complete care of P's tracheotomy, including cleaning and replacing the inner cannulas, suctioning and how to use a resuscitation bag in case it was needed. Staff also created reference materials for him - which the interpreters translated into Spanish.
During the Christmas holiday the staff planned a party for P and her family; shopping for toys and clothes, a Christmas Tree, all the decorations, food and presents for everyone! Off duty staff came, bringing their children so P's children had playmates for the party, and on-duty staff peeked in, as the young mother watched her delighted children enjoy Christmas in the CCU.
The day finally arrived when P, fully ventilator dependent and helpless to provide any of her own care, went home. The hospital purchased and donated supplies; a hospital bed, ventilator, and the myriad of supplies needed to care for P. Home Health visited the first few weeks to provide foley care, but eventually her husband did even that. Local business leaders assisted the family, providing work for the husband that could be done around the time needed to be at home to care for P. "Really, it took the whole community to care for P", said one staff member.
For weeks, staff dropped in to visit and were honored to watch as P's children ran to their mother's bedside to excitedly share about their day at school. Her husband cared for her at home for a little over two years before her disease claimed her life; during that time she was seen in the ED only once and was never readmitted, never suffered with one bedsore; an immense tribute not only to the love and persistence of a young husband, but also to the staff who determinedly worked to ensure he knew how to provide such excellent care.
M. Chenevert wrote, "being a nurse means you will be frustrated, you will be surrounded by challenges, so much to do and so little time, you will see people at their worst, and at their best. You will never cease to be amazed at people's capacity for love, courage, and endurance. You will experience resounding triumphs and devastating failures, you will cry a lot, you will laugh a lot, you will know what it is to be humane, and to be human". The team who cared so diligently for P lived this truth.
Not Pictured: Andrea Lopez(RT), Kirk Pugsley(RT), Deb Anderson(RT), Chip Hale(RN), Ofilia Anderson,(Monitor Tech), Deb Ayers. (RN; Carmina Santan(Interpreter), Marcela Medrano,(Interpreter), Maria Gomez. (Interpreter)
The Multi-Disciplinary Care TEAM:
Hallie Scott, RN
Bobbie Turnipseed, RN
Micah Wilson, RN
Ofilia Anderson, Monitor Tech
Deb Anderson, RT
Rosa Vargas - Int.
Vicky Stevens, RN
Andrea Lopez, RT
Kirk Pugsley, RT
Deb Ayers, RN
Gloria Bailey, CNA
Misty Gonzalez, RN
Deena Bay, RN
Chip Hale, RN
Nancy Dale, Monitor Tech
Karlen Burns, RN
Carmina Santan, Int
Marcela Medrano, Int.
Maria Gomez, Int