Bshs 445 - Caretaker Interview

Caretaker Interview

Vickie Stevens

BSHS/445

2/6/16

Caretaker Interview

       The interview with Kristen Nunes RN, BSN, Clinical Coordinator in Hospice at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London, CT went well. Kristen took the time to sit with me during her busy work schedule and answered my questions in depth and was in a rush when doing so. Kristen went on to explain how she deals with burn out at work. She often feels that burn out for her occurs when her floor is understaffed. When her floor is understaffed it doesn’t only affect her, it also affects her patients and their families. When the floor is understaffed the effects are felt by many but ultimately falls on her shoulders. She has to explain why she has to leave to the patient more frequently. Kristen goes on to explain that Lawrence and Memorial have many resources for its patients their families but also has many resources for its staff.

       Kristen went on to explain a more recent situation when she experienced burn out. She felt extremely overwhelmed when she had 4 CMO patients at one time. CMO is short for comfort measures only. Kristen explained that the reasons she felt overwhelmed were because not only had the help her four patients but also those four families.  Kristen explained how she addressed self-care. She attends the gym multiple times a week. She also eats well and has her husband to talk with. He listens to her and while she never uses a patient’s real name she can vent to him. Kristen and her Coworkers get together out of work and exchange stories about some experiences from work. It helps them see how a peer handled a certain situation. Kristen feels it can be almost impossible to avid burnout. It can happen at anyone job it just so happens to her on a more frequent level because is helping patients and their families at the end of life. She goes on to explain how case management works closely with staff nurses and staff nurses works closely with PCA’s. It is all about team work and helping each other.

       Lawrence and Memorial provide many resources for their staff. They have chaplaincy that will come and speak with them when a staff member needs some encouragement or support. On several occasions, they have had a chaplain speak with us and encourage the group to help each other and work together as one. Kerstin has personally had seen more burn out than compassion fatigue. The reason more coworkers do experience burn out is because of staffing issues that burn out happens more frequently. Not that she never sees compassion fatigue because she has. Advice that Kristen would give is always to make sure you have someone to share your thoughts and concerns with. Not having that person to vent to about your day can hurt you in the long run. She always encourages her peers to use all the resources that the hospital offers them to the fullest.