Remember The Mission

By Normita Nunez

When I worked in the Philippines, my co-workers and friends told me that nurses were just first-class maids with a college degree.

We wore white uniforms, shoes, stockings, and a hat. Some people perceived us as always washing bedpans and taking orders from doctors and patients.

Despite some of the negative perceptions, I was inspired by my father whom I love deeply. He’s my biggest supporter. I also helped take care of him when he was wounded in Bataan and was a Prisoner of War (POW) in World War II.

My father always told me, “No matter how hard the obstacle and all the trials you endure – you will achieve your goals and your dreams. This is the reason you were named Normita.”

N.O.R.M.I.T.A. is an acronym for:< br />
N – no one can ever measure the greatness

O - obligation showered to me by my dear daughter

R - remembering everything at the height of my memories.

M - makes my life complete

I - inspiring me to walk again

T - to try once more the grandeur of life

A - assertive and gentleness

My father gave me a great gift! He encouraged me to never stop dreaming or reaching my goals. This is something that we should give to the next generation. Patients, relatives and significant others need to encourage today’s young people to dream and achieve their own goals.

My dreams have become a reality and I’ve reached several goals. My husband and I moved from New York to San Antonio eleven years ago. We both were hired by University Health System, in the Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit (STICU), under the supervision of Kate Robertson and Susan Gerhardt.

I’ve experienced some wonderful times in STICU. After STICU, I transferred to two other departments. Today, I’m working in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) and enjoying every moment of my job. In PACU – Even during the rough times, we are able to pull through because of good teamwork and the strong UHS family connection.

Because I never stopped dreaming or reaching my goals, I’m practicing my profession with great passion! I’m a nurse.

Clinic Provides Needed Oversight of DME Services

By John Crawford

If you’re shelling out nearly a million dollars for a service, you want to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth. You simply can’t trust that things are done right. That’s a lesson that University Health System (UHS) knows all too well.

The Challenge: CareLink, which enrolls and manages indigent families who receive care from UHS, had contracted with a home health company to supply patients with respiratory equipment such as oxygen and continuous positive airway pressure.

This wasn’t a cheap service. CareLink paid out more than $300,000 a year, for three years, said Donnie R. Holman, BS, RRT, RCP, director of respiratory care and pulmonary function labs for UHS. So, to check on the quality of the home health company’s efforts, an audit was conducted. That’s when problems were found, most notably that the company wasn’t doing proper follow-up, though billing. It was even billing for patients who had passed away.

Obviously, that company needed to be replaced, but UHS needed to do more than that. It needed to make sure that the same inefficiencies weren’t going to happen again with the new company it contracted with. “You want to make sure your patients are taken care of,” Holman said. What was needed was more oversight. The solution rested with UHS’ Respiratory Care DME Clinic.

The Process: Established in 2004, the clinic essentially checks on the treatment patients receive from the home health company. It makes sure patients are compliant and using equipment as prescribed. It can re-educate patients if necessary. It makes sure patients receive a new CPAP mask regularly as it becomes worn from use. It can call doctors if additional help is required, and it acts as point person if patients have any problems.

When patients first receive a piece of equipment, they meet with the company’s respiratory therapist and the clinic’s RT. As clinic director Holman puts it, this ensures that “everybody is singing out of the same hymn book.”

Margie Soto, CRT, RCP, is an RT at the clinic. Her days are packed with activity, full of scheduling, documenting and following up with patients. “It’s that busy all day long,” she said. Soto is part cheerleader, inspiring and encouraging patients to continue with their care. She is also part teacher, making sure patients understand their equipment. “It can be confusing to them,” she said. “They need time to understand. I make the time.”

The Outcomes: Using the clinic to keep tabs on home care has produced fantastic results. Patients are kept out of the hospital, because constant follow-up ensures they’re sticking to their treatment. “The whole intent is to manage (patients) in the home, which is cheaper for everyone,” Holman said,
The clinic also makes sure that service is discontinued when it’s no longer needed, and it ensures that a monthly rental fee isn’t paid when equipment can be purchased outright instead. A purchase can be completed once the amount of rental payments paid equals the equipment’s purchase price. This is easy money to be saved, but if someone isn’t keeping an eye on the rental payments, “it will cost you an arm and a leg,” Holman said. Add it all up, and the clinic realized savings in excess of $210,000 for 2006. Its other successes, namely the better quality of life for patients, can’t be measured in money.

When patients first come to the clinic for their CPAP, for instance, they are often miserable and tired, Soto said. As time passes, though, she sees the difference that treatment makes. “You see a smile on their face,” she said. “They are enjoying life again.”

John Crawford is a freelance writer based in the Boston area.

Nurses’ Week 2007 kicks off to a great start! Hot dogs galore and great music help set the tone for nurses’ week April 30-May 6. This year’s theme is Nursing: A Profession with Passion. Click here for a .pdf schedule of events.

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