tions about community resources, home health workers, prescriptions or even the latest nutritional recommendations. The center will be accepting referrals from local physicians and patients seeking advanced cognitive testing and senior related conditions. At present, the group works out of Naples’ Brookdale Rehabilitation and deals only with patients in NCH’s system referred by their doctor. These are usually the frailest patients, particu-
“I have always loved working with the older population," say Colleen. "My team and I treat our patients like they are our own grandparents.”
larly those who are about to be discharged from the hospital. Oſten the patients have their main residence (and therefore their primary doctor and people they can count on for support) up North, and they may know few people here in Southwest
Florida. Such vital information might be skipped in the 15 or 20 minutes an internist may have to examine a patient, and a full picture might not emerge in the typical three-to- five-day hospital stay most patients experience. The Geriatric Care Team is able to go much more in-depth, spending an hour or two determining a patient’s needs. “We make sure we are sending them home to a safe environment in all ways,” says
Gross. “Our Nurse Navigator calls once they are discharged. We make sure all their needs for a caregiver are addressed, check their physical environment, determine if they need help with geting prescriptions or a ride to their next doctor’s appointment, and be sure someone is looking in on them.” The idea is to wrap around patients like a warm, all-enveloping blanket. Within the
next year, the Geriatric Care Team even hopes to be able to make old-fashioned house calls to those patients who don’t drive or are homebound. Such total care comes naturally to Gross, who started working at age 17 as a long-
term care assistant in a facility where her mother worked. “I have always loved working with the older population,” she says. “My team and I treat
our patients like they are our own grandparents.” For more information on NCH’s Brookdale Geriatric Center Geriatric Care Program, please visit
www.nchmd.org/geriatrics or call (239) 624-1999.
Colleen Gross
ARNP, Geriatric Coordinator
EXPERIENCE ■ ARNP, Home Healthcare Company ■ RN Coordinator ■ RN Supervisor
EDUCATION ■ Maryville University, Masters of Sci- ence in Nursing, St. Louis, Missouri, Jan 2013-May 2015
■ Trinity College of Natural Health, Doctor of Traditional Naturopathic Medicine Diploma
■ Elmira College, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Elmira, New York, Gradu- ation Aug 1996
■ Childbirth Education Preparation, Certified Childbirth Educator, Hat- boro, Virginia
LICENSES ■ Adult Geriatric Registered Nurse Practitioner State of Georgia
■ Adult Geriatric Registered Nurse Practitioner State of Florida ■ AANP certified for AGNP
JULY - OCTOBER 27
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