AHVRP Highlights
In 2002, Sally Rundquist, RN, was stepping down from her longtime post as a nurse manager, but she was not ready to leave nursing altogether. She suspected there were many like her - nurses with a strong desire to care for others who wanted to stay involved in nursing. With no other path to continue her passion for nursing, she created the Volunteer Nurse Program.
Volunteer Nurses offer patients one-on-one time with a nurse that might otherwise not be available. They provide additional expertise that can only come from an experienced caregiver. Gail Hurt, RN, Palliative Care Program Manager at St. John's Mercy Medical Center, says her volunteer RNs are “angels in disguise” and have been her “eyes and ears” to creatively manage palliative patient care. She says the volunteer nurses have attuned assessment skills, years of nursing experience, and personal gifts that have added tremendous depth to the palliative care program. “Our Volunteer Nurses have perfected the art of listening, and this invaluable skill is always appreciated by patients and their families,” Hurt said. The program has been a terrific success at St. John's Mercy Medical and has spread to many other hospitals.
HERO [HENDRICK EQUINE REHABILITATION OPPORTUNITIES]HERO is dedicated to serving people with emotional, cognitive and physical disabilities through the utilization of horses for therapeutic treatments.
The horse's walk provides sensory input through movement which is variable, rhythmic and repetitive. This is effective because the movements of the horse's pelvis are similar to the patient. With tears in their eyes, patients often comment, “This is the first time I have been able to experience what it feels like to move on my own.”
Benefits of HERO may include improved balance, posture, mobility and function. It can also affect psychological, cognitive, behavioral and communicative functions primarily for children but also patients of all ages.
This therapeutic riding program has been in existence since 1992 and has evolved into an extraordinary volunteer program that annually serves more than 75 patients through two ten-week sessions.
 |
Archives |
