Sharon Schell
August 2021
Sharon
Schell
,
RN
Allentown VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic
Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center
Wilkes-Barre
,
PA
United States
Sharon takes a professional and personal interest in her patients and takes the time to learn their life stories, backgrounds, challenges, and interests.
Sharon consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty in serving veterans who are essentially homebound, in providing care to them in their homes and helping them to manage their care so they can remain at home and avoid institutionalization. One patient, an elderly man with multiple sclerosis, who lives alone and has limited education and poor self-care, comes to mind. When he started with our program, he was receiving medications from multiple sources and lacked the ability to safely manage them. In addition, his fall risk was very high and his personal hygiene was so poor he was at risk for infection and skin breakdown. Sharon worked collaboratively with his provider, pharmacist, social worker, nutritionist, and occupational therapist, as well as outside providers, to reconcile his medications, reduce his fall risk, and maximize his safety and personal hygiene in the home. This is just one example of many such patients she has provided care to. Sharon takes a professional and personal interest in her patients and takes the time to learn their life stories, backgrounds, challenges, and interests. She advocates and cares for our Veterans as though they are family. It is clear she has made a tremendous difference in the lives of hundreds of Veterans since coming to the VA.