Chelsea Grissam, LPN, Valir Rehabilitation Hospital
2021 Nursing School Graduate of Canadian Valley Technology Center.
Nurses have an eagerness to learn, and they want to learn how they can better take care of their patients.
Chelsea Grissam, LPN, Valir Rehabilitation Hospital, says she loves helping patients achieve their goals at Valir Rehabilitation Hospital, located in Oklahoma City.
What makes the difference is treating patients as if they are family members. Nurses are team players with a willingness to learn and consider their patient their priority,
She’s happy to be part of a team assisting patients to return to their families and pets at home.
“I just love helping people see their potential,” Grissam said.
The nursing staff at Valir Rehabilitation Hospital is close-knit, she said. Many of the nurses are friends and share their leisure time outside of work.
“We all ask about each other’s families and kids. A lot of us go to school together to further our education. So, I think we’re really close – it’s more than just work,” Grissam said.
She started as a CNA after taking a class in high school. Geriatric care captured her heart.
“I just love it,” she said.
She was close to her grandparents and loves it when her older patients tell her about their lives.
“The other day when I was taking students for clinicals, I had an older lady from a nursing home. She is 101 years old. She came out to talk to me. She was talking about how her mother used to read her Bible stories every Sunday and every Wednesday at home. She incorporated that with her children as well. So, on Wednesdays and Sundays, they would have huge family get-togethers after they got older.”
Grissam is a 2021 nursing school graduate of Canadian Valley Technology Center, located in Chickasha. She has previously worked in assisted living, long-term care, and did clinical adjunct at Canadian Valley as well.
Being a new LPN, she found the hospital a good place to galvanize her nursing skills and time management.
“I already had a few friends that worked here. So, it was easy for me to integrate because I already knew some of them,” she said. “It felt easy for me. I felt comfortable here and felt like I was received well. Everybody here is so helpful and willing to share their knowledge with everybody.”
Her workdays consist of providing a lot of education about the medication she gives her patients in the morning. She knows that if she was a patient, she would want to know what pharmaceuticals she was taking and why.
Wound care is a major factor of her work. She sees a lot of head fractures, patients recovering from motor vehicle accidents, stroke, and joint replacements.
She helps with therapy, too, by helping them transfer and building their confidence. Patients are vulnerable. Grissam lets patients know they are not alone, that the therapists and nursing staff are there for them. How long a patient will stay in the rehab hospital depends on their diagnosis.
Different disciplines including speech therapists work with them and get them to where they need to be.
Even doing little things lets patients know their nurse cares about patient centered progress being made.
“What we hear a lot is, ‘Thank you for helping me.’ And I think that to me is very meaningful,” Grissam said. “It means a lot when you’re thanked for those things, but also you know you’re helping somebody to know they’re being seen and cared for.”
Grissam pointed out that Valir Rehabilitation Hospital has a specialized TBI (traumatic brain injury) unit. So, the hospital provides classes that can be given to nurses wanting to work in the TBI unit. Patients living with brain injuries may not remember being in an accident. Grissam said it’s best to meet them at their own cognitive level.
“A lot of them don’t understand why they’re here, why they can’t go home,” she said. “They want to go check on their house and resume their day-to-day activities. We try to help them understand at their own level why that’s not really possible right now.”
Being a nurse has taught her that life is very precious, she said. In a matter of minutes something can be taken from you, she added.
Some people have a stroke and can’t go back to work or provide for their family.
“Don’t overlook the little things in life that you’re able to do,” she said. “I get to provide for my own family. I’m very thankful for the life that I live.”
Grissam has a 4-year-old son and twin girls, age 2.
“I leave work at work. Whenever I’m at home I’m present. I put my phone down. I’ll get on the floor with the kids. We’ll go to the zoo and the science museum. We go to parks and for walks,” she said.
For more information about Valir Rehabilitation Hospital visit
https://valir.com.
