In a recent Wolters Kluwer podcast, Senior Clinical Editor Lisa Bonsall, MSN, RN, CRNP, spoke with Terry Berkman, MSN, RN, Director of Saint Agnes Nurses Center, a nurse-run community clinic that provides basic medical attention and primary care services to low-income and uninsured residents of the greater West Chester, PA area. Berkman mobilizes a volunteer staff of registered nurses, nurse practitioners, interpreters, and other clinicians to meet their community’s medical needs.
In the discussion, Berkman shares with Bonsall:
- Her personal nursing career journey, the transition from acute care to public health, and the value of community nursing
- Why nurses are important providers of health education and care delivery in the community setting
- Examples of how holistic, whole-person care can improve outcomes
- How to overcome barriers to health inequity among patients who are food insecure
Addressing health inequities
When it comes to addressing health inequities, Saint Agnes Nurses Center takes a simple approach, according to Berkman. Their only criteria for accessing care is that their patients have no health insurance. Patients are taken at their word with no identification needed. “We take people as they come and with the information they bring to us,” Berkman explains. The clinic also has interpreters to translate for Spanish-speaking patients and keeps a pantry for patients who may not have enough food at home, a basic need that Beckman says can be a barrier for patients to follow through on their care.
Personalized care to improve patient outcomes
The work the team at the Nurses Center does is far from just providing patients with a medical diagnosis. Nurse practitioners take the time to assess all their patients’ needs and incorporate lifestyle questions to inform whole-person care. “I think in general, nurses are geared toward holistic care where we look not just at the patient’s medical diagnosis and then provide a pill or order a test, but we look at what other needs the patient has,” Berkman explains. Screening for working conditions, food insecurity, and intimate partner violence are some ways nurses identify potential barriers that prevent patients from following the healthcare instructions they are given.
Additional discussion highlights:
- How community clinics can provide important services to an underserved population
- Ways to identify barriers to care to help patients be more successful with their care plans
- How a holistic view of patients in their community can improve outcomes
Listen to the "Improving Outcomes by Caring for Communities" podcast on nursingcenter.com to hear more of this story and how Saint Agnes Nurses Center exemplifies the best care everywhere.
