Photos: courtesy of bangor beacon community
ple learn to recognize the warning signs that otherwise could mean a trip to the hospital, and how to self-monitor their health at home. Colleen Loveless, RN, is one of these care managers. A former cardiac nurse at Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC), Loveless spends her days making phone calls, checking up on patients who have just been released from the hospital, and answering questions from her approximately 109 patients. “When I was a floor nurse, I thought the most important aspect of patient care was right there in the hospital,” she says. “I came to realize that the most important part of healthcare really happens on the outside, when the patient goes home.” Being diagnosed with a chronic illness is a scary time for anyone, Loveless says. One of her most important jobs is to call people who have been newly diagnosed within 24 hours of their going home from the hospital. Loveless calls to discuss their medications, diet, and exercise, and help them understand the selfmanagement guides that will guide them in understand their diagnosis. “It’s a sense of security,” Loveless says. “Once people start to understand their disease, then they can access the right type of care at the right time and in the right place.” As a care manager, Loveless has an active, ongoing part in her patient’s care—something she didn’t have as a bedside nurse. Since she calls her patients frequently, she can immediately tell if something isn’t quite right. For example, if a patient is having difficult time breathing, or if their blood sugar readings are off, she contacts their primary care physician to set up an in-office visit. This seamless exchange of information, all done electronically, has made a huge difference in people’s lives. “Patients tend to tell us more than they tell their doctor,” Loveless says. “But they know we’re going to share our notes with their primary care provider.” She also says that people are more prone to talking about their problems with her, over the phone in the comfort of their own home, than in their doctor’s office. Kay Hunter, an oncology nurse at EMMC’s CancerCare of Maine, knows firsthand how helpful care coordination is in helping patients handle their chronic illnesses. Loveless was Hunter’s care man-
M. Michelle Hood from EMHS
“The education I got from Bangor Beacon helped me stay home and heal, which is where I really wanted to be.” —Kay Hunter ager when she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in December of 2010. After five days spent at EMMC, a still very sick Hunter went home to Hampden. “When Colleen [Loveless] called me at home, I must have had her on the phone for an hour and a half,” Hunter says. “It was hard for me to listen to the nurses in the hospital, because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind and I was so exhausted.” Loveless called Hunter every few days and coached her through her goal of being able to walk 10 steps at a time without losing her breath. “Colleen knows the questions to ask her patients. She goes beyond her role as a care manager and
fills the role of a wellness coach.” Hunter and Loveless worked together intensively for four months. Hunter went from not being able to walk down a hallway unassisted to finally getting out of her house and, eventually, back to work parttime. “I’m not a cardiac nurse, and being that sick was really scary,” Hunter says. “The education I got from Bangor Beacon helped me stay home and heal, which is where I really wanted to be.” “The Beacon model is filling a void,” says Dr. Iyad Sabbagh, a primary care physician at Husson Internal Medicine. “I feel more reassured with a patient when I know there is a care manager on the case.” www.bangormetro.com Bangor Metro / 13