By Angela Anderson, DOR, Gateway Transitional Care, Pocatello, ID
At Gateway in Pocatello, Idaho, we are blessed to have a very cohesive team that believes in making a difference for our patients. We have been able to create a task force with Nursing, CNA staff, RNS and activities, as well as PT/OT/SLP, to identify the greatest risks and needs for our patients and implement a true IDT approach.
This collaboration has empowered the different departments to develop new ways to address a common goal. It started years ago when our nursing leadership, Travis Jacobsen (DON) and Brooke Burt (ADON) started coming to the weekly rehab meeting. It was in this setting that the Therapy and Nursing teams started building trust and working on patient impairments as a team.
Travis and Brooke have led the nursing department with IDT programs such as HeartPARC, and have pushed the education and team approach that allows the entire team from the CNAs to Social Services to Therapy and Nursing to address cardiac conditions and achieve great outcomes! The wound team was Travis’ baby even before I started at Gateway; however, he was quick to bring Therapy into that team and together we can address wounds and skin breakdown from multiple angles and several approaches.
Travis has been instrumental in developing interdisciplinary management of ESRD patients in conjunction with a local nephrologist. With his help, we have developed programs addressing fall risk and quality of life in addition to excellent medical management. Because of the team approach and leadership of our DON/ADON, we have been able to approach all patients from a patient-centered perspective and treat the “whole person.”