Jean Lavelle, RN, Matheny’s transition nurse, center, confers with Lisa McKenna, RN, left, and Dr. Surbparkash Singh, staff physician.
Matheny’s transition nurse program is designed to assist our patients requiring services in other medical settings, both inpatient and outpatient. They understand the needs of our medically fragile patients and make daily visits to acute care settings to provide vital patient-specific information. The result: a smooth transition into and out of these settings, including all ambulatory care visits, too.
The goals of transition nursing are:
• Reduced hospital readmissions within 30 days.
• Increased patient, family and caregiver satisfaction.
• Accurate medication reconciliation.
• Improved communication across healthcare settings.
I can’t say enough about the transitional nurses!! Last year my son, George was admitted to morristown hospital with pneumonia. He had an attack and couldn’t breath – his lungs were filled with mucus and he couldn’t bring it up. I was there when his eyes rolled back in his head and they called a code blue on him! The transition nurse had come in and comforted me saying that a breathing tube was the best way to go! George was in the hospital for 11 days and the transition nurse was there for George, for me and George’s dad. With out the transition nurse there I wouldn’t understand everything they wanted to do for George. She put everything in terms that we could understand . She was there for us, comforting us and giving us her all! I was able to call her if there was a question or if we needed her to be there and she would come with no question. The transition nurses are a great group of nurses that care, love and give the fragile students the medically needs they need. They are there to communicate the medical needs of the students! With out them I don’t know if my son would be here with us today so we can’t thank them enough! We owe them a wealth of gratitude!! Thank you!!!!