Victoria is that nurse. The one you run to for your flu shot. The one that "if my mom needs a nurse, I would pick her." Victoria loves her role; it is projected in all she does on and off the clock. Victoria has been assigned to the Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) program since early 2018 and prior to that began her nursing career on the med/surg floor at the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center. The Medical Foster Home (MFH) Program has been especially fortunate to have her provide primary care nursing and support to the MFH Veterans we are honored to serve.
She is a competent nurse who is passionate about the profession and her role in the primary care of Veterans' needs. HBPC and MFH programs are unique in that it requires us to be flexible and accept that our daily routine may significantly change with an admission, need for labs, post-fall check, or checking in on a Veteran with a reported acute problem. Victoria is well known for saying "how did I do?; If I can do better, let me know.; that was new to me, so if you have feedback, I am all ears." I always say the wisest people are those who can be wide open to feedback, change, and not act like the expert, but rather the learner. Though Victoria is the closest to an expert, she is constantly seeking ways in which her nursing practice can improve. Staff have observed Victoria asking the Veterans she serves the same questions, "is there anything I can do for you differently?;" she NEVER forgets who her client is. Victoria can be found going above and beyond on a daily basis; volunteering her time on projects which benefit staff and Veterans alike. She has created data tracking spreadsheets, troubleshoots computer and phone problems for co-workers, plans social parties for staff to celebrate each other, and participates in workgroups to better our processes.
Victoria is that upbeat, genuinely positive, and hilariously appropriate colleague everyone wants to be around. With some of her intuitive characteristics, I have seen her pull together co-workers for projects and initiate cohesion which may have not otherwise been established without her. In all nursing areas, it is imperative to have good communication. However, Victoria excels in this area- even with the multiple parties which need to be aware of Veteran care needs. Sometimes this means informing Veteran, family, MFH Caregiver, multiple staff, home health agencies, relevant departments within the VA—and she does so very thoroughly, often using a combination of modalities-face to face visits, fax, CPRS alerting, and phone calls. This is not easy when you are driving in a GSA vehicle, from home to home, and meeting all the expectations of the program at the same time. Her documentation is timely and makes it easy for her interdisciplinary team to provide care alongside her. Victoria takes time to UNDERSTAND and EMPATHIZE with the Veteran and/or Caregiver. She uses this information to assure they are fully informed of the nature of her visit; she will print educational materials, jot down information for the client to reference later, or provides her own time to verbally educate. Veterans feel comforted knowing Victoria is their nurse. As a program coordinator, I am confident in having her care for our Veterans we serve in the program.
When we, as a health care system, faced a pandemic that greatly impacted our ability to routinely do home visits to the MFHs, Victoria sought ways in which we can continue to serve our Veterans. She joined the MFH team in organizing a creative way to stay connected with Veterans and Caregivers. On April 20, 2020, the MFH and HBPC teams caravanned from to all 10 Medical Foster Homes honoring Veterans with a "Street and Lawn Parade;" staff made signs expressing "We miss you" and "We Love our Veterans!" Victoria enjoyed making signs for this event outside of her regular tour of duty. Veterans waited outside with their caregivers for the arrival of their team members to wave the American flag, dance, sing, and wave. Some Veterans enjoyed dancing along. As you can see in the attached photo, she was front and center in this effort which was very successful!
Though already exceeding our expectations she just keeps at it; finding ways to care, help, support, educate. Building on her strengths of being prepared and highly organized, Victoria decided she would make cloth masks for all members of the MFHs, including Veterans, children, and caregivers. She delivered these in paper bags with instructions on use to each home during the event. She did this on her own time, with her own resources. These masks have afforded caregivers to safely get to the grocery store, Veterans to the VA for essential specialty care appointments, and general safety for the whole household. We are forever grateful for this contribution she selflessly made for the program.
Recently, the National Coordinator for MFH asked each MFH Coordinator across the nation to share with her what our programs are doing to help minimize social isolation in the MFH program. In addition to many other efforts, the above story was shared. She was impressed with our coordinator, stating: "...And also, what an incredible thing Victoria did in making the masks for the Veterans, caregivers, and their family members! Perhaps we can feature this in our next newsletter...." It was forwarded to the Director of Home and Community Based Programs and she had this to say: "... this beautiful story was shared with me. I would like to share it with our media people, specifically the Office of Nursing service who is doing the year of the nurse stories. Can you ask Victoria if she would mind me sharing her name and the fact that she made masks for all the MFHs?" Victoria, of course, gave her permission, but modestly so.