Forgetting Your Team -Deborah White with Bivens and Associates

In my working world I belong to several networking groups that are specific to the long term care industry. Those of us who attend these groups will see each other often at one event or another. Many of us are in competition with each other, meaning, we provide the same services to the same demographic. However, I believe that few of us are so competitive or sales driven that we would deliberately take a lead from someone else or seek to undermine another’s business. Nearly all my colleagues (at least the ones I choose to work with) maintain that he or she is there to help, whether it brings about a new client or not. None of us can, or should, try to navigate the vast field of long term care alone.

Recently one of our newer (and younger) members of the long term care industry shared a story with some of us during a networking meeting. In essence, she was working with an elderly woman for potential residency in a retirement home. This is sometimes a long and arduous process; the prospective resident and the marketing representative get to know each other quite well and in some cases a real affection develops. In the case of my colleague, she very much liked and respected her client. When the woman reached a crisis and entered the hospital my colleague was one of the people she contacted for help. Through a series of miscommunications and a lack of a responsible party the woman was discharged and sent home without adequate supervision. She collapsed at home and was taken back to the ER where she was denied admittance. My colleague was frantic with worry and a feeling of helplessness. She was unable to accept the woman into her community without adequate documentation (the process for admit to a care facility is also an arduous one) and feared for her safety at home. She could not reach a family member, the woman’s closest friends were also of advanced age and unable to adequately care for her and nobody could find her important documents such as insurance cards. Fortunately, another social worker reviewed the woman’s medical records and found that her discharge should have been to rehab, not to home. With the crisis averted, my colleague could now go about getting her admitted to the retirement community when she was ready.

As she related this story to us, I was overwhelmed with disappointment. My colleague had forgotten something important – she forgot her team. I don’t mean her immediate team – her supervisor or community nurse. I mean her other team. Those of us in her network, the ones she sees day in and day out at events, parties and educational meetings. I firmly believe had she called one of us we might have been able to quickly put together a safety net for this vulnerable woman. She could have benefited from a medical power of attorney who would have immediately prevented her from being discharged inappropriately a second time. She may also have received some emergency help in her home for a few days. An independent social worker could certainly have advocated on her behalf. A small team of professionals may have even been able to get her admission paperwork completed in record time and WITH the necessary doctors orders. A mobile TB test could have been administered. Although every service I just described would have under other circumstances come with a fee, I also believe that we each would have done the right thing first and worried about payment later.

“I just want to be a resource to you.” I hear it many times throughout my work week and I don’t hesitate to utilize the experience of my colleagues. We all work together to advocate for, protect and empower our vulnerable adult population. We are a team and we should remember to call upon the great knowledge that exists between us.

Check out more from Deborah at www.deborahleewhite.wordpress.com