by James Coburn
Staff Writer
Her nursing staff and patients at Innova Home Health keep Staci Crow, LPN, LVN, loyal to those she serves, Crow said.
“They need help,” she said. “And when they come out of the hospital they need to learn what the hospital hasn’t taught them and the safety portion of it and about their medications,” Crow said. “I just like home health and taking care of people in their home setting.” She has been a nurse for almost 12 years since graduating from DeMarge College in 2004. She began her career in hospice for three years before making the transition to home health. Four years ago, she joined the team of professionals at Innova.
Innova Home Health is a nationally accredited Medicare certified and state licensed home health care agency.
Patients heal better with home health, Crow said. Patients get more hands-on care with assessments which can be reported to a physician. She can follow-up with any changes to prevent her patients from returning to the hospital. They don’t have to make as many doctor appointments either, she continued.
“It’s more for the nursing staff to keep the patients independent at home,” Crow said. “You build a relationship with family members and you educate them to keep their loved one safe as well.”
Crow is content to stay with Innova because of the staff’s ethics and personal responsibility they take in offering exceptional care, she said. They are professional and loyal to their patients by being their advocates.
“In home health there’s not an every day smooth,” Crow said. “You got to have a level of balance. You have some days that go real smooth and other days that are more difficult. You want to get each patient prepared and safe as well.”
Crow knows at any moment that she has the help and guidance of her staff at the Oklahoma City office. She may call them anytime for a wealth of assistance. They support each other and always go above and beyond when it comes to staff support. Continuing education is encouraged and abundant.
They come together and work well as a team. They are like one big family, Crow said. She would chose Innova for her own family because of the familiarity and kindness of the nursing staff, she said.
“You always have the same nurse,” Crow said. “We try to give the patients the same nurse each time. That way they feel more comfortable and they open up to you. The communication is a lot better because when you have changes in nursing, they have to start from day one instead of seeing the nurse who has always been coming in. That’s where you establish being like a family.”
Crow gets to know her patients well. They speak of life events and memories of what is meaningful. They share how they got married, funny stories and sad stories, she continued.
Eighty-five percent of her patients are without family because they have passed away. They may not have children, but have nieces and nephews who are not actively involved in their lives.
She is not only there as a nurse. She is there to be a listener and to help them whenever it is necessary. Someone is there every week to make sure they are okay.
“When they ask you to do something — you do it. You find that level of care,” she said. “I chose to do home health because so many elderly are at home and they don’t have family to assist them. So I’m kind of like their next of kin.”
Crow’s venture into nursing sparked when she was 15 years old, working as a dishwasher in a nursing home. She noticed patients who were unable to feed themselves at the dinner table and wanted to assist them.
“The director of nursing came out and said, ‘You can’t do that. You’re not certified.’ So I said, ‘Send me to school,’” Crow explained. She became a CNA for four years before venturing into home health and hospice as a nurse. “Home health is where I benefit because when my grandfather was real sick, I remember the nurses coming in and taking care of my grandma and my aunts, and giving them support and educating them to where he could have a quality of life at home and not live in the hospital,” she said.
Her grandmother told her when she was 11 or 12 that she would grow-up and be a great nurse.
“I knew that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” she said.
