Milwaukee VA Medical Center
Virtual visits just what the doctor ordered
Nurses from one of the coronavirus units (left to right): Chris Prott, Bridget Bandoli, Andi Hicks and Katie Cramer, display one of the video connect systems.
Remember back in the olden days when we could actually visit our loved ones in the hospital?
Oh wait, that was only two months ago.
The speed with which the coronavirus pandemic descended upon our nation put hospitals in the difficult position of banning visitors. The Milwaukee VA was no different -- forced to close its doors to visitors to protect its patients and employees.
But thanks to modern technology, Veteran inpatients are now able to have visitors.
Virtual visitors, that is.
The Milwaukee VA Medical is rolling out special iPads and other devices that all Veteran inpatients can use to visit with loved ones with the click of an e-mail. While nurses and recreation therapists had already been providing Skype and other connections for some Veterans, this takes it to a new level. And, it was a labor of love with an eclectic group of Milwaukee employees.
When the first Milwaukee-area resident died of coronavirus in March, he died alone. He was a retired firefighter, an “iron man,” according to his son. His family was unable to comfort him in his last moments.
Reading about this man and his son motivated Milwaukee VA physician Dr. Joanne Bernstein into action.
“Just getting this feeling of what impact that had on his son, not that it was a COVID case. This was a father. This was a son. This was how this impacted them. And that really bothered me.” Dr. Joanne Bernstein, describing her feelings after reading about a patient who died from COVID without seeing his family.
“Just getting this feeling of what impact that had on his son, not that it was a COVID case. This was a father. This was a son. This was how this impacted them. And that really bothered me,” said Bernstein.
It bothered her enough that she put a plan into action.
“I started talking to our palliative care folks to better understand what was happening and what our options were,” she said.
“At that time, we had restricted all visitors except for non-COVID, end-of-life, palliative hospice care. But nothing for the COVID patients,” Bernstein said. “These patients really should be in isolation, but how do we address the humanitarian aspect of it to connect people with their loved ones?”
Then the answer came.
“Really the easiest approach would be to video-connect these folks,” Bernstein said. “We are so fortunate here at the VA to have a really robust telehealth department. So eventually I got connected to the head of that department, Scot Kueper.”
When Kueper and the telehealth department got wind of the idea, things happened fast.
The Biomedical engineering department was tasked with adapting existing telehealth equipment to meet specific criteria.
“We wanted a device that was in the room but didn’t require the nurse to stand there and hold it. We didn’t want to create an additional burden and tether the nurse to the bedside for the video connect,” Bernstein said. “And we wanted it to be offered to all the patients, not just the end-of-life patients because they were all in isolation.”
Biomed came through quickly.
“In, like a day, they were like MacGyvers and crafted everything. They created exactly what was needed,” Bernstein said.
Nurses on inpatient floors quickly snatched up the improvised devices to use them for patients.
Kueper recalled seeing one of the first test runs with the new equipment.
“The nurses wheeled it in for the patient, and he had just been removed off the vent. He will still kind of groggy, but as soon as he was able to see his loved one, he just perked right up. And then he gave the thumbs up.” Scot Kueper, describing a Veteran who got to use the video connect for the first time.
“The nurses wheeled it in for the patient, and he had just been removed off the vent. He will still kind of groggy, but as soon as he was able to see his loved one, he just perked right up. And then he gave the thumbs up,” he said.
After seeing what effect this technology had on one patient, Kueper knew they had to move forward in providing this service for all inpatients.
The idea was born, the equipment was developed, leadership approved it, and then it was handed to the Hospital Incident Management Team’s planning committee to formalize the process and make it sustainable long-term.
The planning committee immediately reached out to inpatient medical support assistant supervisor Mary Broughton to develop the specifics of the process. As a 25-year Milwaukee VA employee, they felt Broughton had the expertise to make the process work.
Little did they know this subject hit close to home. Broughton’s 80-year-old father died April 4 of coronavirus.
She and her family were not able to see or speak to him for the 10 days he was in the hospital.
“Even when we dropped him off, they said we couldn’t come in,” she said. “Day one we couldn’t visit, day two we couldn’t visit, and so on and so on.
“He wasn’t able to talk because he was intubated. All we could do was just communicate with the nurses,” she said.
“We communicated probably five to seven times a day, just getting reports. One minute he’s doing good, next minute he’s not doing good. It was like a roller coaster ride.”
When Broughton’s dad was in the hospital, she wanted to tell him she was praying for him. She wanted to comfort him. She wanted to whisper in his ear and tell him she loved him.
“None of that happened, and so it was very hard and very stressful.”
So, when she was tasked to make sure our veteran inpatients can see and speak to their loved ones, she was all in.
“I want to make sure it works,” she said. “I want to make sure that the visitors are able to speak to their loved ones. Not just be able to speak to them but be able to see them. Because I didn’t get that.”
Veterans can request the iPads from nurses in their areas. For more information on setting up a virtual visit, family members can speak to their loved one’s nurse.
