Page 23 - CANNABIS NEWS FLORIDA JUNE 2020

VITAS® Healthcare Invites Nurses and Nursing Students to Volunteer

Professional nurses and nursing stu- working reduced hours at the same time improving the patient and caregiver Stewardship and service to our commu-
dents from across the U.S. can share their that hospice patients are unable to leave experience, we’ve decided to continue nities are in our DNA as nurses, so par-
expertise and support front-line nursing their homes or unwilling to invite these relationships and proactive calls ticipating in the VITAS Volunteer Call to
colleagues by joining VITAS Healthcare’s healthcare workers and volunteers into well after we’ve left this pandemic Action was a prefect decision for us.”
Volunteer ProActive Call to Action, an their homes for compassionate end-of- behind.” Beverly Morgan, president of Lambda
initiative that trains volunteer nurses and life care. Launched in mid-April, the volunteer Psi Nu, said volunteering with VITAS is
nursing students to check in regularly by “A warm call from our nursing volun- initiative has already trained nurses and an ideal alternative for her sorority's
phone with socially isolated hospice teers can brighten the day of a hospice nursing students who are making regular community service program, which was
patients and their families/caregivers. patient and reassure a patient’s family calls to patients or their caregivers, while suspended during COVID-19.
VITAS is issuing the call for volunteers member that they are not alone during others await onboarding/assignment to "We're all bedside licensed practical
during National Nurses Week 2020 (May the pandemic,” Fiorelli says. one of 48 VITAS hospice programs nurses in the trenches, trying to provide
6-12), a celebration of profound impor- The first VITAS volunteers to undergo throughout the US. quality care services every day, and part
tance at a time when many critical-care training are members of the American AAMN President Blake K. Smith, MSN, of our mission is to improve the quality
U.S. nurses are battling COVID-19 on Association for Men in Nursing (AAMN) BN, says that even before COVID-19, his of healthcare in communities of despair,"
the frontlines of healthcare while other and Lambda Psi Nu, a nursing sorority organization had been exploring volun- says Morgan, who committed 500 volun-
nurses are furloughed or working scaled- for licensed practical nurses. Additional teer opportunities for active-duty nurses teer hours from her organization. "The
back hours. nursing organizations have begun the and nursing students who require com- VITAS initiative is not only our way to
Robin Fiorelli, senior director of vol- onboarding process. munity service hours for nursing school give back to our community, it's also an
unteer and bereavement services for “VITAS provides training for all volun- acceptance and graduation. awesome opportunity to connect VITAS
VITAS, describes the program as an ideal teers, and the experience gives nurses “During this pandemic, our members patients with nurses who are caring and
opportunity for nurses, nursing students and nursing students exposure to post- have been asking, ‘What can we do? How knowledgeable."
and nursing organizations to make a tan- acute specialties like hospice that they can we help?’” Smith explains. “Many
gible difference in the lives of hospice might not encounter during their career nurses and nursing students are shel- Interested nurses or nursing students can
patients and their families. Because of or schooling,” Fiorelli explains. “Because tered at home, yet we feel we should be find more information and apply at
COVID-19 restrictions, many nurses are these calls have been so successful at on the front lines with our colleagues. VITAS.com/volunteer.

FAU Nurses Care for Homeless,

Low Income Individuals during Pandemic

Nurses are on the frontline of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in individuals. An additional 150 face masks will be distributed early next month during
hospitals saving lives while putting their own at risk. But their selflessness doesn’t the community outreach takeout breakfast, which specifically serves the homeless
stop there. Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing is com- population. Those who were unable to receive a face mask, can pick them up on des-
mitted to helping those in greatest need during this pandemic: homeless and low ignated days at the FAU Community Health Center, operated by FAU’s College of
income individuals who live in a northwest neighborhood in West Palm Beach. The Nursing and the Northwest Community Health Alliance.
city’s first and oldest neighborhood has a population where the majority of its resi- “As a family nurse practitioner volunteering at our FAU Community Health Center
dents live well below poverty. Its homeless population, in particular, is at grave risk of in this northwest neighborhood in West Palm Beach, I noticed so many homeless and
contracting and dying from COVID-19. Those who live in poverty simply do not have low income people sitting close together without any face covering,” said Chambers.
the means to protect themselves with personal protective equipment (PPE) such as a face “People living in poverty as well as homeless individuals and those struggling with
mask or seek medical attention if they suspect they may be infected with the virus. social determinants of health are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and dying
To address the dire needs of this community, Karethy Edwards, Dr.PH, APRN, a pro- from it. My colleagues and I were compelled to do something to help.”
fessor and associate dean of academic programs, and Karen Chambers, DNP, APRN, an In addition to lifesaving PPE, FAU’s College of Nursing provides health care servic-
assistant professor, both in FAU’s College of Nursing, are spearheading programs to pro- es for this community. The Community Health Center at UB Kinsey in West Palm
vide lifesaving PPE and health care services for residents in this neighborhood during the Beach is a new permanent, year-round facility that opened on April 17. This historic
pandemic. area has a low income, medically underserved population. Health care services also
On April 28, in collaboration with the Northwest Community Health Alliance are available at the FAU Nursing Community Health Center, in partnership with the
board, which serves a predominately African-American community in the northwest Northwest Community Health Alliance. Services include mental health assessments,
district, Edwards, Chambers and about 10 faculty and staff members distributed more medication management, and behavioral interventions focused on restoration of func-
than 400 face masks to residents in this community, specifically targeting homeless tion and quality of life. Patients learn behavior strategies to help them adhere to med-
ical regimens, new coping mechanisms, stress reduction strategies, and pain and/or
disease management techniques.
With COVID-19 concerns, primary care telehealth services are now available to
patients and include routine sick and health maintenance follow-up care and manage-
ment of chronic illnesses like hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and arthritis. As an
American Diabetes Association “Diabetes Certified Education Center,” telehealth
services also include diabetes patient and family education. Patients with chronic ill-
nesses are currently being contacted to determine if they have need for medications,
food, and information to educate them about COVID-19. Telehealth services are avail-
able in English, Spanish and Creole.

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18 June 2020 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News