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Making a Difference-One Bedside Visit at a Time
Originally published in Chicago Hospital News, March 2006
By Margi Carlson
As a nursing home team manager for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care®, Edith Ransom works with Dr. Muhammed N. Longi, who attends terminally ill residents in nursing homes and the VITAS inpatient unit at St. James Hospital.
“I’ll see him bedside with a patient I know is disoriented times three,” Ransom says. “And Dr. Longi is having a conversation with him. He’s got a wonderful bedside manner.”
Three years ago a VITAS doctor at the St. James unit was looking for a third partner, and Longi agreed to give hospice a try. Board-certified in internal medicine and pediatrics, Longi has found hospice to be “one of the most fulfilling experiences of my professional career.”
He loves being part of a team. “As a physician I make the smallest contribution,” he demurs. “The biggest contribution comes from the Certified Nurse’s Aide. I can tell instantly if a patient is being cared for by a VITAS CNA: the hair is done, skin is glistening, there is a clean dress or shirt, the face is beaming, the sheets are fresh. The CNA is there four times a week. I see the patient for admission, for recertification and if there are problems.
“Sometimes all they need is someone to listen and reassure them, but I feel so good going home because I have made a difference in somebody’s life. And in hospice we truly do make a difference.”
Longi understands physicians’ reluctance to refer patients to hospice. He understands families and physicians who want to be aggressive in caring for a terminally ill resident who has opted for hospice. “Ten years ago I would have been one of those physicians,” he admits. “It’s only when you understand hospice and the difference it makes that you get on board.”
Although the goal is comfort care, Dr. Longi agrees that sometimes a hospice team works so well it actually “cures” terminal illness.
“Yesterday I read that if there is someone in your confidence—a spouse or friend or parent—that can add a year to your life,” says Longi. “If you have a pet, add two years. Well, we put a whole team in a nursing home resident’s life: a CNA, social worker, chaplain, doctor, nurse, a music therapist. We may make a minor change in meds. The resident becomes more active, she has more social interaction, she’s no longer drowsy or depressed. She gets better. It doesn’t happen often, but some patients do graduate from VITAS.”
But Longi isn’t looking for graduates. He’s just stopping at bedsides, making a difference.
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