Many of our clients and their carers appreciate our approach to treating them holistically. What do we mean? Vida’s nursing background is tremendously helpful as she is able to understand a range of conditions which may affect a client. Often, clients or their carers may not have full details, but Vida can begin to build a picture through extensive familiarity with relevant conditions and medications used.
This holistic approach may mean that we recommend involvement of other specialists such as occupational therapy, district nursing, fall clinic, physiotherapist or GP.
Vida has a lot of experience assisting people who may have some trouble remembering or communicating because of hearing difficulties, dementia, stroke, etc. Our clinics are designed to create a relaxed environment and to be enjoyable and stress-free for the client and their carers.
As a carer to her mother-in-law and mother at times, Vida knows how important trust is for relatives too. Thirty years as a respected NHS nurse and practice nurse in the area and a full DBS check are just the start. For example, Vida does not handle money from vulnerable clients. Instead, she arranges with a carer or relative for payment (for example, through a bank transfer).
Going Beyond…
We visited a lady at home for a first appointment. It turned out she was newly arrived to the country. She had no transport, did not know anyone and did not know her way around. Due to an accident, she had mobility issues.
We introduced her to The Hive and took her there the first time. We also introduced her and her friendly little support dog to the team at The Hive.
The fab team at The Hive supported her by arranging future transport to the centre and introductions to a local church.
One Saturday, we had a missed call from a regular client. When we called back, we could not get an answer.
We knew that this lady had previously had a fall. Her only daughter also lived some distance away.
So, after several attempts to call, Vida enlisted her husband to help with a trip to the lady’s house to check all was well.
After a bit of knocking on windows and doors, we were delighted to find that it was a false alarm. Our client was just indulging in a bit of afternoon TV turned up on loud.
We visited a new client who was not mobile and housebound (in fact, living only in an upstairs room). During the assessment of the gentleman’s feet, we found a wound under the heel caused by a very long period of being immobile.
This was not apparent unless his foot was lifted, so his wife had not noticed. We did not proceed with any treatment but contacted the district nursing team right away. They had been trying to see the gentleman for the first time to assess his care needs, but his wife was still working, so they had been unable to see him.
Because Vida has considerable experience in wound management and diabetic care, she was able to relay the situation to the district nursing team effectively. They visited the same day.
In this case, the gentleman needed to enter a care setting shortly after so that he could receive proper care.
