ANA-RI CONGRATULATES AND RECOGNIZES ALL THE HONOREES .
LONG TERM CARE NURSE
OF THE YEAR
WWW . RISNA . ORG
DONNA MARKETOS
RN , Long Term Care Nurse at Alpine Nursing Home
HOW DID YOU GET INTO NURSING ? A family member was ill , and I was taking computer classes when someone told me , “ You shouldn ’ t be working in an office , you should be taking care of people .” So , I changed my major . I became a long term care nurse because the relationships that can be built among the staff and residents are more consistent than in acute care settings where staff frequently change positions .
• GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
• HEALTH POLICY
• BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
• ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT
Donna Policastro
President ( 401 ) 359-7950 policastrogroup @ gmail . com
WHAT ’ S YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR ROLE ? Giving my residents a sense of control and independence through whatever difficulty or challenges they are currently facing . Seeing the whole picture from psychosocial , spiritual , physical and emotional aspects of each person allows them to have a higher quality of life than just treating the diagnosis .
WHAT IMPACT HAS COVID-19 HAD ON YOU AS A NURSE ? COVID equaled fear , uncertainty and isolation for many people , but particularly the elderly and those in nursing homes . We had to watch our residents struggle with memory loss , fear , loss of hugs and the precious time they had left to be with those they loved . Family members stood in tears at the windows while I came up with solutions to allow them to see one another and let their loved ones know they did not desert them . We became our patients ’ families even more so than in normal times . The pandemic , if anything , demonstrated that the responsibilities of a great nurse always go beyond just the chart — we touch the lives of those we serve daily . It is in seeing the whole person that we can help our patients the most . I wish more people in the public realized isolation was not something we felt was beneficial to most of our patients in long term care . When a patient does not have long to live , their goals and the risks they are comfortable taking are much different from those of us who have not yet lived such long and experiential lives .
68 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l SEPTEMBER 2021