Great Lakes Home Healthcare and Hospice, Erie, PA

My experience at Great Lakes Home Healthcare and Hospice in Erie, Pennsylvania has come to an end.  I can't believe how fast time flew by! My time at this agency has been amazing and has provided me with great experiences that I will cherish and look back upon during my future career as a nurse.  The staff at Great Lakes was very welcoming and supported Ashley and I throughout our time with them.  Ashley and I had the opportunity to work with med/surg, mom/baby, and wound nurses, which allowed for us to work with patients throughout the entire life spectrum.  Our nurse preceptors provided us with endless hands-on opportunities which have allowed me to improve the nursing skills I have learned thus far as a student. For example, this summer I have been able to complete countless wound/wound vac dressings, change and insert Foley catheters, perform picc line dressing changes, and insert IVs, along with many other skills.

 During our time visiting patients in their homes, Ashley and I noticed that many patients are current cigarette smokers, and several of those smokers were receiving oxygen therapy.  Knowing how dangerous combining smoke and oxygen is, Ashley and I decided it was best to to focus on educating patients the dangers of it and how smoking causes serious health effects.  Ashley and I wanted to improve patients' knowledge regarding the topic so we administered 100 pre-surveys consisting of 12 multiple choice and true/false questions.  We then gave patients brochures that were created by us that outlined important information regarding tobacco use.  At the next home visit, patients were given a post-survey, that was identical to the pre-survey, to see if the patients' knowledge on the topic improved after they were given time to go over the brochure.  We are still waiting for the rest of the results to be returned, but we can infer from the surveys that were handed back that the majority of patient's improved their knowledge. 

Overall,  Ashley and I believe that this clinical site was wonderful and provided us with an amazing experience.  This Capstone site is recommended for everyone!  The clinical director, Ms. Cheryl Cook, has nothing but great things to say about us FPB students and hopes that the school will continue to send students next summer.  I am sad that the time has come to its end, but am excited to perform the skills and use the knowledge I have gained in my future experiences!