ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604300032
SECTION: NURSES PAGE: 7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH COX
Each year, public health nurses are selected by their peers as public health nurses of the year in their districts. These winners go on to compete at the regional and state levels.
The point, said Yvon Glasgow, nurse manager of the Roanoke City Health Department, is to recognize the nurses and to provide inspiration for newer nurses.
Glasgow, who has been in public health nursing 26 of her 30 career years, said a lot of the impetus for making a nomination or selection comes from the heart.
``You've seen this nurse function from her heart, with her clinical expertise and her contributions to the community," she said.
There is a criteria to follow, however, in nominating. Among the criteria are an ability to assess health status in complex situations, establish productive relationships with clients and assume responsibility for complex situations.
In other words, you've got to think on your feet and often make decisions alone. Glasgow said that to be a good public health nurse, you have to have the desire to better your community and the ability to practice autonomously, and at the same time be a successful team worker. Public health nurses at times are called upon to make critical decisions so they need to be well-educated. This is even more important now as new methods, new drugs and more paperwork descend upon the nurse.
Glasgow said the arrival of the computer has helped a great deal. E-mail and on-line research increase communication. Patients have become more challenging, and home health has evolved into acute care. Because of these demands, Glasgow said they demand that nurses complete a certain number of continuing education units each year.
The irony is that even with all the external changes, Glasgow said public health nursing hasn't changed in many other respects.
She was recently at a meeting where a physician read to the pubic health nurses a letter written by one in the 1800s. It described her job which Glasgow said``is the same today - the communicable diseases, childhood immunizations and the need to educate people about their own health care through lifestyle changes," she explained.
The 1996 Public Health Nurse of the Year for Roanoke, Julia Adams, is a woman Glasgow supervised about three years ago.
Adams is a public health nurse for family planning with the Roanoke City Health District. Her job often takes her outside the clinic, which is quite a change from her previous position in a Virginia Beach hospital.
``I had always seen one piece of the patient within the confines of the hospital setting," said Adams. She listened to a friend describe her public health nurse job, and decided there was more need in that arena. Adams said she was excited about going into people's homes, teaching them about nutrition, substance abuse, breast cancer awareness and prenatal care.
``It was intimidating at first, but on the other hand, it was exciting. You learn to tailor your teaching and your interaction to their level. You need people skills," she said.
Glasgow said one of the reasons Adams was selected was the ``fire in her. She has a patient-focus attitude, and she's dedicated to learning." Adams has an associate degree in nursing, and while she has worked full time in the health department she has gone back to school.
In May Adams will receive her B.S.N. from Virginia Commonwealth University. Glasgow recalled that Adams, while they worked together, would always take an assignment and go with it. She's thorough to the point where she will research a problem and solve it, Glasgow said.
Adams admitted that as an independent person she enjoys the autonomous decision-making that public health nursing allows.
``We have to think more quickly on our feet because we're out there on our own," she said. She added that in addition to what she learned in school, what she calls upon most are diplomacy, the desire to work with people on their leve, and flexibility.
Peggy Andrews, Public Health Nurse of the Year for the Allegheny Health District, works in the Roanoke County Health Department. She, too, sees the need to work with patients on their own level as paramount to the job. It simply doesn't work, otherwise, she said.
``One of the biggest things I've learned is I have to accept things the way they are and to work with [my clients] on their level. We cannot transfer our ideals; we have to work with them rather than change them," she said.
Glasgow said Andrews is a public servant, doing a job where the salaries and resources are lower than in the private sector. To be a public health nurse, she said, takes common sense and competency.
Andrews has been a public health nurse for 25 years, and in that quarter-century she has seen increased paperwork and decreased home visits - two changes she laments.
But the job, albeit tough, is also rewarding to her.
``I get to work with families. It just gives me more of a completion. You get more involved with the people,'` she said. As home visitations have decreased, her patient load has increased. And there are never dull moments, she said.
``Every time you think you know what's going to happen, someone surprises us," she said.
Andrews said that she'll have a discouraging day and begin to think nothing she does makes an impact, and then someone will come in and say, ``What you told me 10 years ago has really made a difference."
That's what winners do.
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. Julia Adams (left) and 2. Peggy Andrews, publicby CNBhealth nurses of the year.