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Tuesday, May 13
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 Gini Caldone, RN, BSN |
“When the Bell Rings, You Go”
“In some ways, being an admissions nurse for VITAS is like being on the fire department,” says Gini Caldone, RN, BSN, admissions manager for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® of Palm Beach County. “When the bell rings, you go.” They don’t put out the fire, however; they evaluate the fire before calling in the firefighters. They work fast; the situation is critical and time is of the essence.
As manager, Caldone stands behind her admissions nurses, keeping an eye on the computerized admissions reports; knowing which nurses are available to make calls to homes, nursing homes and hospitals; waiting for families and patients to make the decision to go on hospice. She’s the cheerleader, taking time out of her day to beep her admissions nurses with a good word, meet with them at the start of their day or get them out to lunch together.
Caldone goes on her share of calls, too. Recently she was called to the home of a patient who was 88; her husband was 91. They’d been married for 68 years. “I got lost trying to find the house, so I was late—too late. As I pulled in, an ambulance was pulling out. So I followed the ambulance, waited at the hospital, then got the body ready for the family. I called the son to tell him she didn’t make it onto hospice care. When her husband arrived, I held his hand, let him cry, then gave them time to say goodbye.
“The truly sad thing is that the family had called VITAS a month before, got all the information and said, ‘We’ll call you when we’re ready.’ But they waited too long. People think hospice is for when death is imminent. They don’t realize all the benefits to calling hospice when there is still time to reap the rewards. They could have had a month together to say their goodbyes.”
As admissions nurses, Caldone’s staff doesn’t do hands-on patient care; once the patient is admitted, the hospice team takes over. But admissions nurses tend to see patients and families in crisis, at midnight if need be. They stabilize situations and try to answer questions like “How long does she have?” “Should I bring the children to see him?” and “What would you do?”
“I always tell people the truth, says Caldone, “because that’s what I’d want to hear.”
It is not an easy job, she says, but she has a boss and a staff that make it “the best job in the world.”
“I think hospice nurses choose admissions because they like meeting people, they like the challenge and they like the autonomy. They’re out there explaining VITAS, each in his or her own way, all day. And each has a hospice heart.”
100 South Biscayne Blvd, Suite 1500 Miami, FL
33131 (305) 374-4143 |
