Veleda Furness provides exceptional care to the patients assigned to her team. She is a compassionate nurse who goes out of her way to ensure that veterans are taken care of. One example of her compassion is, an elderly veteran patient walked into the clinic with his new cardiac monitor, he stated that his non-VA provider ordered the cardiac monitor and he recently received it in the mail and found it difficult to activate. Ms. Furness contacted the cardiac monitor representative who assisted her in activating the monitor and provided some teaching to the patient on how to use it. She ascertained that the monitor was too complicated and beyond the patient's ability to manage so she asked the cardiac monitor's representative to contact the patient's daughter to explain how to use the cardiac monitor. The patient underwent a pacemaker placement by his non-VA provider and during his post-dischargefollow-up the patient stated he felt more energetic and he thanked Ms. Furness for her patient assistance with the monitor.
Ms. Furness is dedicated to improving the health of the veteran patient assigned to her team. An example of her dedication is she devised a system to track patients who were given the Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) kits who had not completed or returned the kits as prescribed. The Fit test screens for colorectal cancer. Ms. Furness contacted every patient on her team who had not returned the kits and conveyed to them the importance of completing the test. Due to her diligent work, the team was able to identify a patient whose test results required further evaluation. The patient was referred to GI and a colonoscopy was scheduled and performed. The colonoscopy revealed colon cancer and the patient was scheduled for surgery. Ms. Furness continues to educate patients on the importance of getting their labs drawn and others to get done in a timely manner to avoid delay in care and treatment.
Ms. Furness assisted with the implementation of changes in processes to improve patient care. An example is "Project Bring them Back". Ms. Furness researched one hundred forty patients who had no follow-up appointments with the provider. Of the one hundred forty patients, fifty of the patients declined to make follow-up appointments or did not answer or return calls after multiple attempts to contact them. Thirty-five had moved to different areas/states, passed away or transferred into skilled nursing facilities. The outcome is that remaining fifty-five patients were scheduled for follow-up with the provider and will receive a continuum of care. Ms. Furness has continued to review the patient roster to ensure that all patients seen on her team have follow-up appointments. She also contacts patients who no-show or cancel to make sure that they are rescheduled as soon as possible.
Ms. Furness serves as a role model for other nursing staff. She has mentored and trained several new LPNs to the Ambulatory Care clinic functions and operations. She exhibits calm, confident, supportive and non-judgmental demeanor at all times. She maintains a positive attitude and offers her assistance and support to co-workers who have a heavy workload. She is very knowledgeable about nursing procedures and willingly teaches and trains co-workers, patients, and their family members. She contributes to the ethical work environment and culture by always striving to do the right thing and encouraging to do the same. As a veteran and co-worker, I am proud to know and work with Ms. Furness and I feel confident she will continue to uphold the core values of the VA and demonstrate the core characteristics of the VA.