| Joining Forces With UConn School Of Nursing |
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Positive Health Effects For Southeastern Connecticut
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| The 1 To Call For Home Health Care: (860) 444-1111 |
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Waterford, Connecticut —
Most everyone knows the VNA of Southeastern Connecticut’s (VNASC) role in providing home health care to acute and chronically ill patients in their homes. Many also know that VNASC is a major provider of full-time school healthcare in the region. But not many know that VNASC has had a community wellness program in southeastern Connecticut for most of its history. Of course, countless residents have had a flu shot or a blood pressure screening provided by that program but few realize the scope of the overall wellness offerings. One full-time nurse, Cheryl Kyne, RN assisted by a group of part-time nurses provides screening clinics, health education and immunization in many sites. These programs are not only well received but, in fact, anticipated by many in the area.
Recently VNASC was faced with a vacancy in the Wellness Coordinator’s position. As sometimes happens, an unexpected opportunity arose to fill that vacancy and at the same time examine the program with an eye to enhancing the services provided around this region.
The University of Connecticut, School of Nursing Acting Dean, Carol Polifroni contacted Mary Lenzini, president of VNASC with a proposal to offer a joint appointment of a faculty member from the School of Nursing to VNASC’s Wellness Program. The faculty member would give guidance and lend expertise in community health nursing while fulfilling the university’s desire to have faculty more involved in practice situations. For Mary Lenzini it was a true “no brainer.” She related to this writer, “I needed only to work out the salary arrangements and I was sold.”
Part of the quick sell was her familiarity with and admiration for the faculty member who would be appointed. Dr. Sherry Bassi, EdD, APRN, BC had already been working with VNASC to develop and later coordinate the Carelink+ Program, a student clinical experience in community health provided through the agency. Dr. Bassi’s knowledge of southeastern Connecticut coupled with her vast community health nursing expertise is well known. Bassi is a resident of Groton and a member of the Ledge Light Health District Board of Directors.
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Dr. Bassi has begun her work with VNASC by reviewing current programs in the community and meeting with Senior Center Directors and Social Service Departments in some of the local towns. The goal is to create some new offerings which will increase the value of the wellness programs for the recipients and for those who are funding the programs. The list of possibilities is endless. We are brainstorming topic ideas that range from providing tips for the new “Sandwich Generation” to understanding the aging process as it relates to brain activity.
The Carelink+ Program will continue under Dr. Bassi’s new role as team leader. The students assigned to the program are visiting existing patients of VNASC who have reached a stable point in their health status but have chronic health issues or normal changes of aging that will help the student develop assessment and teaching techniques. The second part of the Carelink+ Program has the students providing health education in community settings such as senior centers or senior housing. The students have had a very positive impact on programming in their assigned communities.
Carelink+ has benefits for everyone involved. The patients enjoy the visits in the home setting and receive individual attention to their health needs. The students fine tune their classroom learning with “reality experience”. The real “plus” in Carelink+ is the opportunity for VNASC to have nursing students exposed to the specialty of community health nursing with the hope that they will chose to work in this very important nursing specialty.
UCONN + VNASC = Positive Health effects for southeastern Connecticut.
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