Empathy and Compassion Beyond the Procedure describes how a patient, who had relied on Vascular Wellness to achieve vascular access numerous times over almost nine years due to her complex medical issues and difficult IV access condition, passed away not alone, but rather in the company of her Vascular Wellness care team family.
Empathy and Compassion Beyond the Procedure
– Clinical Case
This case focuses on a patient who was in and out of the hospital for most of her adult life. She was young but with so many comorbidities after repeated medical interventions over the years, her veins were almost completely depleted and unusable. Surgical teams, Interventional Radiology, and other medical personnel tried several times to place vascular access devices for treatment but were unsuccessful, and ultimately called on Vascular Wellness throughout the years. Due to her ongoing treatments, she and various members of the Vascular Wellness clinical team developed a deep, patient-provider relationship that continued up to and through her passing.
There are many reasons why a person might be a difficult IV access (DIVA) patient, including age, gender, height, weight, dehydration, previous failed attempts to gain vascular access, health conditions such as cancer, drug abuse, and diabetes, vein visibility, and vein palpability. Regardless of the reason, many of these patients repeatedly suffer from numerous painful failed attempts to gain vascular access when intravenous therapies are prescribed, or surgical intervention is needed. The result is physical and emotional trauma which often leads to procedure-induced stress and anxiety in addition to delay of medical care.
Empathy and Compassion Beyond the Procedure
– Diagnosis and Treatment
As a valuable member of her medical treatment team, Vascular Wellness was always able to answer the call and successfully and safely create vascular access timely and without multiple and painful unsuccessful sticks. As exceptional as that was, as shown time and time again over hundreds of thousands of lines placed by Vascular Wellness, the patient-centric treatment during her passing is the focus of her “Diagnosis and Treatment” in this Empathy and Compassion Beyond the Procedure story.
During her last hospital stay, she unfortunately coded. Her care team was able to revive her, and she was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) where her condition remained critical. The patient’s family arrived at the hospital to visit and say their goodbyes, and then departed.
One of the Vascular Wellness nurse clinicians learned the patient was alone and dying, and quickly spoke with a colleague onsite at the hospital and said, “No one is dying alone today.” They went to the patient’s bedside and held her hands as she passed away, while the rest of the Vascular Wellness clinical team covered for them and took care of the cases, charting, and other end-of-day tasks. Because our vascular access team spent so many years caring for this patient and getting to know her, the news of her passing was especially difficult. Nancy Warden, chief clinical officer and chief operating officer of Vascular Wellness, shared the news in a communication to the entire team.
“Every one of us felt the loss, especially in the VST (Vascular Support Team call center) and the AOC (Administrator On-Call) teams because we all knew her by name, we knew her favorite foods and drinks, and we shared stories with her. I want to say thank you for what you did for her by sitting with and personally comforting her in her greatest time of need.”
The entire team was commended and celebrated for its initiative and teamwork that day. Comments poured in from teammates touched by the compassion and care that regularly extends beyond the procedure.
“I am proud of our team members; taking the time to make a difference for a human life is the basis of nursing practice.”
“I was working VST that day and it broke my heart when we found out she coded the first time, and later passed… Forever grateful for our team and their huge hearts! I am super proud to work with such a compassionate and caring group of people.”
“This is a beautiful tribute for a patient who touched many hearts. I’m so glad our team could be there with her in her last moments. Nursing isn’t just about the body, it’s mind and spirit too.”
“Thank you for sharing. What a beautiful gift you were able to give this patient, both in life and death. So proud to be a part of this team! “
“Nobody left behind!”
“Thanks for doing the right thing and putting our patients first.”
Vascular Access Experts
– Key Points
As Vascular Access Experts, Vascular Wellness focuses on holistic medical care, including clinical care (i.e., the vascular access procedure) and patient and family care (i.e., answering questions, explaining the procedure, and being empathetic and compassionate). With respect to clinical care, Vascular Wellness nurse clinicians are Vascular Access Board Certified (VA-BC) and are truly vascular access experts who perform multiple procedures daily and undergo extensive training and frequent skills assessments and verification by a preceptor to ensure they maintain their highly specialized skills. With respect to patient and family care, since our nurses are salaried W-2 employees rather than paid-per-procedure contractors, they are trained and encouraged to spend all the time necessary to assess patient medical history, coordinate and collaborate with the care team, and talk with the patient and family to answer questions and address any concerns. Empathy and compassionate care during and beyond the procedure.
In this case, this hospital partners with Vascular Wellness for comprehensive program management, including a regular staff of VA-BC Nurse Clinicians, LPNs, and Techs to take care of placing both standard and advanced vascular access devices, as well as the care and maintenance of the placed lines. As such, the patient and the entire Vascular Wellness clinical team got to know each other and grew quite fond of each other over the numerous procedures. The entire Vascular Wellness clinical team knew the patient by name, and the mood was heavy after her death.
Vascular Wellness is a patient centric healthcare organization, which encourages its team to go the extra step and spend the extra time as needed for exceptional patient and client service. This case exemplifies our commitment to our vision of Advancing Healthcare and Empowering Nurses. We measure our performance on the care and service delivered and the positive impact we make on our patients and clients. We are humbled and honored for the opportunity to connect with this patient, and to continue to do this every day for all the patients whose lives we touch.
Nurse Clinicians in Action is a spotlight series highlighting some of the interesting cases that Vascular Wellness clinicians have encountered and participated in treatment. These cases involve challenging situations or intriguing clinical presentations and may involve more than one Vascular Wellness clinician, as our clinicians have the ability to consult each other while in the field, as well as an on-call Clinical Administrator via a HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability) compliant communication app. In addition, our extensive training program and diverse client base, including Level 1 Trauma Centers, Short Term Acute Care Hospitals, Long Term Acute Care Hospitals, and Skilled Nursing Facilities, provide our clinicians with a wide array of clinical experience and why we believe our clinicians, as a group, are the most experienced and best trained and supported vascular access clinicians.
If you require Vascular Access or want to learn more, speak to the team at Vascular Wellness today.
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Vascular Wellness provides:
(1) Comprehensive vascular access services to North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Virginia; and
(2) Customized vascular access services to Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia; and
(3) Support vascular access services to Ohio and Kentucky.
Read more NCIA Patient Cases
Nurse Clinicians in Action stories highlight some of the interesting cases in which Vascular Wellness clinicians have encountered and participated as valuable team members.
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