Jackie Gintner
December 2022
Jackie
Gintner
,
RN
Home Based Primary Care
Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Minneapolis
,
MN
United States
Jackie was successful with her efforts, avoiding injury to herself and the snake, and was able to safely release the critter back to the outdoors.
Jackie Gintner is an integral part of the Home Based Primary Care team. She consistently goes above and beyond for her veterans on home visits and is always willing to pick up extra visits when coverage is needed for other staff. She spends extra time visiting when she knows veterans are lonely or lack family support.
Jackie has a reputation for identifying issues with pests in the homes including cockroaches and bedbugs and assisting with pest control follow-up. Recently, Jackie added another critter to her repertoire! Jackie was visiting her veteran who had recently moved to a new memory care assisted living facility. She completed a thorough head-to-toe assessment and spent time making sure he was adjusting to his new place. While Jackie was looking through her backpack for supplies, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. There was a snake slithering across the floor of the veteran’s apartment!
Jackie took quick action to alert facility staff to get a bucket to contain the snake, all while trying not to let the veteran be alarmed. When sliding her folder under the bucket, the snake was obviously agitated and bit the edge of the folder, hanging onto it while she tried to flip the bucket over to remove it from the room. Jackie was successful with her efforts, avoiding injury to herself and the snake, and was able to safely release the critter back to the outdoors. Upon returning to the veteran, he asked if that had been a snake. She explained what happened and then reassured the veteran by completing a thorough search of his apartment to ensure there were no other snakes hiding out.
After her visit, Jackie called the veteran’s family to update them on what had happened since she knew this story would sound absurd if the veteran told them. It turned out the veteran had already called his family. Due to his dementia diagnosis, his family assumed his hallucinations had worsened when he told this tale! They were grateful for the communication from Jackie to keep them updated and her quick actions to keep the veteran safe and happy in his new facility.
Jackie has a reputation for identifying issues with pests in the homes including cockroaches and bedbugs and assisting with pest control follow-up. Recently, Jackie added another critter to her repertoire! Jackie was visiting her veteran who had recently moved to a new memory care assisted living facility. She completed a thorough head-to-toe assessment and spent time making sure he was adjusting to his new place. While Jackie was looking through her backpack for supplies, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. There was a snake slithering across the floor of the veteran’s apartment!
Jackie took quick action to alert facility staff to get a bucket to contain the snake, all while trying not to let the veteran be alarmed. When sliding her folder under the bucket, the snake was obviously agitated and bit the edge of the folder, hanging onto it while she tried to flip the bucket over to remove it from the room. Jackie was successful with her efforts, avoiding injury to herself and the snake, and was able to safely release the critter back to the outdoors. Upon returning to the veteran, he asked if that had been a snake. She explained what happened and then reassured the veteran by completing a thorough search of his apartment to ensure there were no other snakes hiding out.
After her visit, Jackie called the veteran’s family to update them on what had happened since she knew this story would sound absurd if the veteran told them. It turned out the veteran had already called his family. Due to his dementia diagnosis, his family assumed his hallucinations had worsened when he told this tale! They were grateful for the communication from Jackie to keep them updated and her quick actions to keep the veteran safe and happy in his new facility.