By Kayleigh Burns PT, DPT, DOR, The Villages of Dallas, TX
Dignifying long-term care in the eyes of the world through moments of truth is something I repeat to myself daily. I often think, how can I use my position of leadership to lead a movement that strives for this exact thought? As the new DOR in a very established team, I was faced with the task of not only providing a fresh perspective but also providing a revival of passion within this team. Very quickly, I started to notice that passion-driven treatments were not talked about or inspired/supported regularly. I quickly reached out to some other DORs who I knew could inspire this positive change within my team and began to set the tone of purpose-driven treatments. I wanted to change the mindset from just seeing a patient for the time scheduled, to letting us use each day as an opportunity to create an impact and inspire unique moments that make this incredible population’s life worth living.
One therapist began to passionately talk about wound care within our facility. The excitement I saw in his eyes when he talked about the past wound care programs was the exact same excitement I wanted to reignite within this team. Through the support of our local Resource and Keystone’s Resource, we were able to not only attend a wound care course but also establish our building as an Ultramist trial building. We have not only been able to successfully heal wounds in outpatient, which then helps to keep the autonomy of care for our patients, but we have also been able to assist with wound care for our long-term care residents. Wound care has created opportunities for us to not only better support our patients and provide opportunities for our therapist passions to be supported, but most importantly it has also helped to reconnect Therapy and Nursing in this building. By supporting the continuum of interdisciplinary care and helping carry the burden of our Nursing partners, our building is better when we work together. We are committed to bettering long-term care one wound at a time!