On a table in the family room of the VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® inpatient unit at Florida Medical Center (FMC) in Lauderdale Lakes, there is a note from Don Dolan, R.N., the IPU team manager.
The note states that anyonea patient or a patients family memberwho needs anything while he or she is a guest at the IPU can ask Don or an IPU staff member for assistance.
“It doesnt matter what they needa patient once asked for a hot dog and ice creamwell get it,” says Don. “Ill send someone to Dairy Queen if I have to. We want people to feel at home here.” And thats why the 12-year-old IPU at FMC recently underwent extensive renovationto make it more comfortable and “homey.”
The IPU moved from FMCs third floor, where it had 22 beds in mostly double rooms, to the fifth floor, where it has 25 beds in all private rooms (except for two doubles). The bedrooms are decorated in warm earth tones and are each furnished with a new sofa bed for overnight visitors, a recliner, home-style lamps, two small televisions and a bathroom.
(l-r) Vilma Garcia, R.N., a team nurse at the VITAS Inpatient Unit at Florida Medical Center in Lauderdale Lakes; IPU Team Manager Don Dolan, R.N.; and Team Chaplain Sara Roby and her little dog, Taiko, sit in the family room in the newly renovated IPU.
Also in the IPU is a family room with a hardwood floor, a couch and chairs, a flat-screen TV, a telephone, and toys and a small table for children. There is also a “quiet room” with a couch, a computer and a telephone. The entire IPU has wireless internet access.
The IPU also has a fully equipped kitchen with four big tables where patients, visitors and IPU staff can enjoy a meal or snack in a relaxed environment. Centrally located is a state-of-the-art nurses station, and at the far end of the IPU are a coffee station and another sitting area, as well as several training rooms.
The staff at all VITAS IPUs includes a team physician, nurses, hospice aides, a chaplain, a social worker and volunteers.
IPU Rededication
In April, VITAS rededicated its new IPU at FMC in a ceremony attended by almost 200 guests, including Lauderdale Lakes Mayor Barrington A. Russell, Sr.
“In addition to continuing to provide great care to our patients and their families and to enhancing FMCs reputation for meeting its communitys needs in innovative ways, this unit will serve as a place for anyone at FMC to go when dealing with challenging cases or death and dying,” said VITAS General Manager in Broward County and Vice President of Operations, Mary Zalaznik. “It will also serve as a center for information and education on hospice and end-of-life care, from pain management to preparing advance directives.”
VITAS has four IPUs in Broward County with a combined patient capacity of 70, and four IPUs in its Dade-Monroe program with a combined capacity of 58. Most of them, such as the IPU at Hialeah Hospital, have either recently undergone major renovations or will in coming months.
While most of VITAS patients receive their care at home, some need to receive at least part of their care in an IPU, says VITAS Vice President of Operations Dian Backoff. “For instance, if a patient starts a new pain medication that needs close monitoring but his family caregiver isnt comfortable giving the medication, or if there is no family caregiver, we can move the patient to an IPU for a few days, where our staff can watch him around the clock,” she says.
“Our field staff can provide that level of care at a patients home,” continues Dian, “but sometimeslike if a patients home situation isnt stablean IPU offers a more structured environment for pain and symptom management.”
VITAS hospital-based IPUs bring a benefit to the hospital, too, notes Dr. Freddie Negron, senior medical director for the VITAS program in Dade-Monroe. “It helps to develop trust with the hospital physicians and staff,” says Dr. Negron. “They feel better about referring their patients to us when they know they easily can visit us.”
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