Times Advocate, 1994-01-26, Page 24Page 24 Times -Advocate, January 26, 1994
VON week
Patient care can
now be done
right in the home
By Catherine O'Brien
T -A staff
GRAND BEND - Healthcare in
the '90s is undergoing many chang-
es.
And while people debate the pos-
itive and negative aspects of a new-
ly emerging system there are
groups out , there trying to make
these changes as easy as possible.
Organizations such as the Victo-
rian Order of Nurses are now play-
ing greater roles in the well being
of the sick.
VON staff and volunteers have
been helping people with their
health needs since 1927, with du-
ties ranging from volunteers driv-
ing patients to appointments to
nursing staff providing medical ser-
vices in the home.
"Homecare has definitely changed
over the years," said nurse Nancy
Anderson of the Sarina-Lambton
VON.
Homecare now takes in nursing
duties such as post operative care,
foot care, IV therapy, support care
for diabetics, new mothers and eld-
erly to palliative care.
And it seems people who are ill
are staying at home longer as well
leaving the hospital earlier as the
medical community see :he positive
benefits familiar surroundings and
family can have on a patient.
Anderson said patients heal at a
faster rate when they are able to go
home.
And that's were VON staff come
into the picture.
Some people require visits every-
day while others need the VON
once a week.
Anderson said an average visit is
about 45 minutes, but some go as
long as two hours depending on the
needs of the patient.
The nurses begin their visits as
early as 8 am and as late as mid-
night. There is even 24 hour ser-
vice.
VON nurses in Sarnia-Lambton
visit at least 300 patients daily.
That works out to about nine clients
per nurse.
Once such client Ivan Malovic,
of Grand Bend.
For the past two months Ander-
son has been checking on the
progress of Malovic who has been
recovering from surgery.
"I had been very ill," he :aid. "I
was in the hospital for 5 1/2
weeks."
And while much of the hospital
stay is a blur to him, Malovic does
remember the effect Anderson and
other VON nurses had on his recov-
ery. •
Grand Bend
interested in
purchase of
Port Blake
from ABCA
GRAND BEND - Looking to find
some more space for recreational
activities, Grand Bend Council is
making inquiries about the Port
Blake Conservation Area.
"1 think the ABCA would strike a
deal with us. There's some financial
considerations involved," said
Grand Bend councillor Ed Fluter
during Monday night's council
meeting.
Fluter, a member of the village's
recreation committee, was referring
to the Ausahle Bayfield Conserva-
tion Authority which, according to
hien is looking to sell the property
on Highway 21.
"They'd like to get out of it but
there is no one satisfactory to take it
over. They tried to tender it out last
year but it's an expense," said Flut-
er.
Although Fluter said Stephen
Township is not interested in Port
Blake, council asked if the Tri -
Municipal group could at least be
consulted.
A New
Spirit of
Giving
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"She cheered me every time she
came," Malovic said of Anderson.
"He was very happy to come
home," said his wife Rita. "But he
needed daily care from a profes-
sional."
This concerned Malovic's wife
who wanted him at home, but was
worried her husband wouldn't get
the medical treatment he needed.
"You go through a sort of panic
at first, not knowing what to ex-
pect. I just remembered how sick
he was in the hospital."
She said when her husband came
home from the hospital, "I felt a bit
helpless. He needed attention seven
days a week."
But priorto his release, plans had
been made for VON care.
"It was easier on me knowing
someone was coming to look out
for him," Malovic's wife said.
She said the visits were better
than any medicine a doctor could
prescribe. "The nurses were so
cheerful everyday. They really lift-
ed his spirits and mine."
Ivan Malovlc gets his blood pressure checked by Sarnia-
Lambton VON nurse Nancy Anderson, on right, while wife Rita
looks on. Malovic is one of 300 patients in Sarnia-Lambtor
visited daily by VON staff.
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