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Program Profile:
Pain Management & Palliative Care
In-Home Complementary Care
As the population has continued to age, VNSW has been treating increasing numbers of patients with lower back disorders, degenerative joint disease, rheumatological conditions, neurological diseases and life-threatening illnesses. Rapidly increasing demand has prompted an invigorated effort to serve this population and the installation this past Spring of a new Pain Management and Palliative Care Program Manager to advance the mission.
 Pain Management / Palliative Care Program Manager Sharon Bronner |
Enter Sharon Bronner, MSN, APRN, GNP, BC, Ht, who assumed the program’s reins in April of 2006. Sharon brings to the position years of experience at Hospice Inc. of Dutchess/Ulster County. As Nurse Practitioner, she worked at two hospitals, Vassar Brothers Medical Center and Benedictine Hospital in Kingston, NY; in this capacity, she provided palliative care, pain management, and discussion about end-of-life issues with families, staff and the interdisciplinary team, helping the family elect either continued palliative care or transition to hospice care. “Communication and collaboration with the interdisciplinary team,” according to Sharon, “are key to a successful palliative care program.”
Talk to Sharon as she goes about her work and you’re immediately struck by a sense of intellectual curiosity and passionate desire to serve and educate. Why did she leave the hospital world to enter the very different field of home care? “I really wanted to assist patients at home,” she explains. “When acute care or nursing home facilities discharge a patient to home, they often don’t realize how much pain the patient is still suffering after discharge. That’s a moment when patients really need help: someone to place calls on their behalf and collaborate with their physicians, to consult and make recommendations regarding what prescriptions to write, and with many other issues.”
Sharon employs several approaches, as indicated, in her group’s efforts to help patients achieve comfort. “I’m a certified hypnotherapist,” says Sharon. “I do hypnosis for pain management in the home, which is something I’ve seen working very well. I also use relaxation techniques and guided imagery: ‘taking’ patients to the beach, the mountains, wherever they might want to go to get to a different state of mind. We include complementary and alternative modalities such as massage, acupuncture, helping patients overcome discomfort associated with pain, anxiety and shortness of breath. For example, we sometimes employ the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which is particularly useful in helping patients decrease anxiety and pain.”
“We” refers to Sharon and her team of nurses, for whom making patients feel more comfortable at home is a daily concern. Explains Sharon: “The team gets referrals from the nurses whose patients have pain, and we evaluate for a palliative care or pain management course of treatment. Some patients have special considerations, such as those who have issues about end-of life and can’t easily make a decision about entering hospice.” During the few months that Sharon has been program manager, she has introduced new educational programs on pain management, including orientation for VNSW’s existing homecare staff, new hires, and nurses who want to join the palliative care/pain management team. She has introduced new manuals and books to educate families on end-of-life issues, and is training several nurses in the use of hypnosis.
Asked about the future of VNSW’s Pain Management and Palliative Care Program, Sharon offers a clear plan. “I really want this program to grow,” exudes Sharon. “My vision is to have one pain/palliative nurse on each of VNSW’s teams, in an environment in which all staff is educated on doing pain and palliative care. I’m also working to establish community workshops on stress management, for families who need help trying to decrease their stress levels.”
And as for Sharon’s future? “Going forward I see myself in a teaching role,” she says, “educating our professionals to educate the public. Knowledge is power, especially, as it relates to pain and end-of-life care!”
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