3 minute read
From the Executive Editor
Asking Questions— Making a Difference
Our world today seems filled with transitions. Some of us are watching our children and grandchildren transition from and to their various stages of development and the next chapter of their lives. Others have bid farewell to beloved family and friends who have left us due to aging or illness. In any case, we all experience firsthand the transitions of life. To be sure, these are very different experiences that result in uncertain feelings. What will happen next? What will be the outcome? How might our lives be impacted?
As I write this column, we have witnessed the end of our country’s longest war, which spanned 20 years, and perhaps a transition to an even more uncertain future. The most recent and tragic loss of 13 young men and women who died in the service of our country during the final days of the war underscored the courage and selflessness of these individuals. This loss added to the countless other deaths and injuries that have resulted during these past 2 decades and are difficult to fully comprehend. Many of our case managers have provided care to those in the military and veteran healthcare settings. We can never repay the enormous debt of gratitude to the lives lost. May they rest in peace!
Many, if not all of us, can recall just what we were doing 20 years on 9/11. While we often hear, read, or perhaps even say to ourselves, “Never forget,” there are likely more individuals today who were not yet born or were so young at the time that they have no meaningful knowledge of that day or the subsequent ones that led us into that longest war. There is a saying, “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it...”, and there are significant reasons that we need to ensure that the attacks on 9/11 and the 20 years that followed are not forgotten. The transition from the end of this tumultuous time now
and toward an uncertain future will likely have us again asking the same questions that were posed above: What will happen next? What will be the outcome? How might our lives be impacted?
As case managers, we spend a good bit of time preparing our patients and their families for the various transitions that they will experience as they receive care and intervention from the numerous providers and care settings along today’s care continuum. Some of their experiences will be favorable, while others will result in an increase in complications, costly hospitalizations or readmissions, and a decrease in patient satisfaction. We do know, all too well, what happens when there are interruptions in the continuity of care and we see them all too often. These adverse events occur more frequently and are more consequential among the most complex patients, the ones that should be in our caseloads. There are no “quick fixes” for these patients or their problems, but there are many resources that will help us avoid many problems and maximize the opportunities for improved outcomes. A notable resource for you and your patients is “The Seven Essential Intervention Categories” from the National Transition of Care Coalition (NTOCC). This resource has been covered more completely in articles that appear in the previous and current issue. As we are involved with a more complex patient population, we need to ask those highly relevant questions: What will happen next? What will be the outcome? How might their lives be impacted? Not paying attention to what went wrong and correcting those problems, will, unfortunately, result in history repeating itself.
As we celebrate Case Management Week (October 10th–October 16th), let’s celebrate you; the intervention you and your colleagues provide and how you continue to make a real difference… one patient at a time!
Catherine M. Mullahy, RN, BS, CCRN, CCM, Executive Editor cmullahy@academyccm.org
