Caring for one of my “regular” patients isn’t just a job, it’s a journey
by Deborah Salvato, RN, infusion nurse at BWH’s Multiple Sclerosis Center
With three years prior experience as an infusion/transfusion nurse at BWH, I came to work for the new Multiple Sclerosis Center (MS Center) at 331 Longwood Avenue when it opened in July 2000. As an infusion nurse, I see approximately 25 patients each week who require a variety of steroid and chemotherapy treatments.
Along with a top-notch patient care team of physicians, researchers, pharmacists, and psychologists, the MS Infusion Center’s staff is comprised of highly skilled nurses who are trained as IV nurses and phlebotomists. We infuse chemotherapy agents, steroids and immune globulin. Additionally, we are certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Automated External Defibrilation.
Working at the infusion center, unlike the inpatient setting or other nursing departments, we treat and follow our patients over long periods of time, often five years or more. Most of my patients are “regulars;” receiving weekly, monthly, six-week, eight-week or three-month infusions or injections over several years.
With this regularity, I have the opportunity to develop strong and very close relationships with my patients. Seeing them through good times and bad. At our Center, I get to know patients not only professionally, but personally as well. Because of this connection, there is a strong sense of trust and confidence built between my patients and me.
Although always professional, my colleagues and I try to maintain a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere in our infusion area. By offering blankets, pillows, hot and cold beverages, snacks and magazines, I can help make a patient more at ease. It is my goal to help ensure a patient’s visit is a comfortable one. The challenge of my job is trying to anticipate my patient’s needs while also trying to create a balance between my formal clinical role as an infusion nurse and the natural role of being a friend through their treatment process.
New patients who come into our infusion center are understandably frightened and apprehensive at first. Some have had bad IV experiences or are overwhelmed with their newly diagnosed MS. It is not long before you see a transformation. With the help of our supportive staff and by observing the confidence and trust other patients have in our nurses, they too become relaxed and less anxious.
When you hear patients say to our nurses “You were not here the last time I came in for my infusion. I really missed you” you know they meant it.