NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2020 - 19

I'd give you a handshake or hug.
Now, I want to acknowledge that
this is very different for you and
for us. My experience thus far has
been that people really
appreciate that and for those
who are apprehensive or even
defensive about this process, that
it breaks a lot of that down.

provide support and help meet
their needs.

Support Team Tools
We have created some tools for
our tele-support team that we
are sharing. The first tool goes
over the structure of a routine
telehealth call and guides the
nurse all the way from opening
the call, introducing themselves,
getting the patient's attention,
letting them know what that visit
is going to be about, and helping
set those boundaries. The tool
goes all the way to gathering
assessment information and then
providing appropriate
interventions and disposition of
the patient.
The second tool is a guide to
triage calls since one of the things
our program offers is a 24/7
triage line that the patients can
call. When a patient calls into
triage, the second tool goes over
reporting urgent or emergent
things outside of a routine call,
how to address those types of
calls, and what protocols to take.
The third last tool is called the
clinical and technical scorecard. All
calls are recorded and monitored
to ensure that all technical pieces
are addressed and that the
patient received quality nursing
care as a result of the phone visit.
This is important for ongoing
quality monitoring, both positive
and negative, and areas of
opportunity to help address the
ongoing needs of our teams.

Joanne Glusman, MSW,
LSW, APHSW-C
Joanne Glusman is a Palliative
Care Social Worker with Bryn
Mawr Hospital and Main Line
Health.
I would like to offer some
considerations for social workers
in light of COVID-19. Typically, I
am in the hospital with a
palliative care team, but things
have changed. Right now, we
have a couple of nurse
practitioners and /or physician in
the hospital, and a couple of us at
home. What we are doing now,
it's a community teaching service
in acute care hospital.
The first thing for me, whether it
is on video or a phone call, is
acknowledging the difference. As
social workers we often say meet
the client or the patient where
they are. So, I have found
personally that just laying that
upfront, to say to people that
typically we'd be sitting next to
each other or across from each
other, and at the end of our time

There was an article in USA Today
about Zoom fatigue for
professionals. I think we must
acknowledge that it exists for the
patient and the people they love. I
spoke to a gentlemen a couple of
days ago and he talked about
how many phone calls he is
getting because every person is
either calling or videoing him
about his spouse.
So sometimes just acknowledge
that.
As a social worker, I am a little bit
different than the physician or the
NP or the PA. In speaking with
someone, I tell them, "I do not
have an agenda and I know you've
gotten a lot of calls, I'm sorry that
it's the case. I'm calling to see
what you're most worried about,
what you're feeling and how I can
be helpful." You must be prepared,
as that can go a number of ways.
Coordinating things with the folks
that are in the hospital or if they
are in the home and you have
team members in the home, you
have to coordinate closely and
streamline messaging.
All of those in palliative care and
hospice are aware of the mixed
messages that people get. Right

Newsline / Summer 2020

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NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2020

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