Did you know that hospital patients who no longer need acute care but are not ready to go home can stay at RiverView Health in swing bed care?
Swing bed is a level of care available to Medicare beneficiaries and some patients with private insurance that is considered a step down from acute care, shared Jeana Lundeen, RN, Transition Care coordinator at RiverView. Swing bed care is equivalent to the same level of care available at skilled nursing facilities. Staff help patients achieve optimum function and self-care during a swing bed stay. The goal is to help the patient return to their home independently or with the help of other community resources such as Home Care.
Little Things Add Up
Pat Grothe, of Crookston, qualified for swing bed status after falling on Dec. 10 and breaking her fibula above the knee and her tibia above the ankle. While unable to have surgery at RiverView, she reported that she made it known she wanted to go to RiverView for aftercare.
“RiverView is like a resort compared to other facilities,’’ she laughed. “The staff at RiverView do everything they humanly can to make your stay as comfortable as possible. The atmosphere is just different at RiverView. In other places, employees do their job and only their job. RiverView isn’t like that. It feels like everyone likes their job and they enjoy helping you.’’
Grothe spent almost a month at RiverView before going home on January 11. Her RiverView stay included occupational therapy, daily physical therapy, and even weekends, which she credits for helping her recover. She also appreciated weekly meetings with her care team to go over goals and what she needed to do to reach her ultimate goal of going home. “The meetings assured me that we were all working towards the same thing.’’
As a swing bed patient, Grothe had more opportunities than patients receiving acute care, including visiting RiverView’s Limited Addition Gift Shop. Before Christmas, one of the nurses took her to the shop where she purchased gifts for stocking stuffers. After shopping, the nurse even helped her wrap the goodies.
Patients in swing bed care can also leave for appointments, holidays, and other events. Grothe decided to go home for the afternoon of Christmas Day to spend time with family before returning to RiverView that evening.
There were so many “extras’’ Grothe recounted about her stay at RiverView. The many staff members who stopped by her room to say goodbye before she left warmed her heart, including a kitchen staff member who visited her room to tell her it had been a pleasure to serve her. She enjoyed the jigsaw puzzle the nurses gave her when they heard she was a puzzle fan. The challenge kept her busy until she completed it two weeks after returning home.
“The little things just blew my mind,’’ she reported. “No one ever left my room without asking if there was anything they could do for me or if I needed anything – the entire staff. If an RN was walking by and I said I needed more water, she didn’t send an aide; she brought it to me. I was amazed.’’
Another part of receiving care close to home for Grothe was having many visitors, including one of her great-nieces and a friend who brought over homemade get-well cards made by the girls and some of their other friends. She also enjoyed a visit by a few members of the Crookston Pirate’s Girls Basketball Team before a Saturday game. A big fan who never missed a game until her fall, Grothe, still in a boot, looks forward to returning to games.
In the meantime, she continues physical therapy once a week at home, this time working with a member of RiverView’s Home Care Team. Her swing bed experience behind her, she looks back with nothing but praise.
“RiverView has an outstanding facility, but a nice facility only goes so far if you don’t have the culture and the people that buy into it,’’ Grothe stated. “RiverView is special. The staff at RiverView are just the best; they made my recovery so much easier than it could’ve been.’’
Smooth Transition in Care
Lundeen said the average swing bed stays at RiverView is 30 days or less, much like Grothe’s. Besides therapy, other examples of qualifying needs include required IV antibiotics and daily skilled wound care.
“We typically try to keep a minimum census of three patients in swing bed up to five if needed or capacity allows,’’ Lundeen reported. “We often see our own surgical or medical patients that meet criteria, transition to swing bed, and will usually be able to stay in the same room with the same nurses and therapists during their stay.’’
For patients transferring from acute care to swing bed status, nursing care, administration of medications, meals delivered to the room, cleaning, maintenance, and laundry services are unchanged. The most significant difference is that patients can lead a more relaxed lifestyle with fewer physician visits, lab tests, nursing assessments and vitals, and care conferences.
Besides being allowed to wear their clothes, leave the building for other events, and visit the gift shop, RiverView also houses Holte’s Café on the main level, where patients can meet with family and friends for coffee or a bite to eat or, if the patient wants some quiet time, they also have access to RiverView’s meditation room. Built in 2020, the facility offers state-of-the-art technology, professional design, and artwork by local artists throughout the building. Each patient room has a bathroom with a shower.
“RiverView is honored to have patients continue their stay in swing bed care or to welcome those from other facilities,’’ Lundeen concluded.
Benefit to RiverView, Community
A Utah physician designed The swing bed program in the late 1970s to offer rural patients the chance to be closer to home and make better use of small hospitals nationwide.
For RiverView, having a swing bed census ensures beds remain filled and staff utilized. It allows staff to learn and manage skilled medical procedures in a stable environment they wouldn’t usually see in a critical access hospital setting. t also brings in people from larger cities who may have yet to learn of the services available at RiverView.
The income generated by swing bed services helps RiverView’s bottom line and helps ensure the community can keep its hospital.
For more information on swing bed care at RiverView Health, call Lundeen at 281-9274.
Photo cutline: Madilyn Bruggeman (left) and Brooklyn Waldal stopped in to visit Grothe before one of their basketball games in Crookston. Grothe is a great fan and looks forward to getting back to games.
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