Free nurse program aids local seniors

With rising health care costs, many of Bloomington’s senior citizens cannot afford the co-payment required for a doctor visit. The City of Bloomington Adult Community Center, provides the seniors with an alternative – a free weekly meeting with a registered nurse.\nEvery Friday at the center, Lori Brenner, a registered nurse, gives Bloomington seniors medical checkups and guidance. A volunteer for the center’s Neighborhood Nurse program, Brenner helps alert seniors of potential health problems and advises some to see a doctor. The Neighborhood Nurse program is not intended to take the place of a doctor, said Daren Eads, facility coordinator for the center.\nThe key to the program’s success is the way it monitors the seniors’ health. Eads and Brenner recalled a time when a center member was playing pool. The man caught Brenner’s attention because his breathing had changed and he was acting differently. Brenner notified center staff and called 911. Later the staff found out that the man had had a heart attack. Without a nurse’s regular medical observation, the man would not have been saved. \nBrenner said she spends most of her time at the centerchecking patients’ blood pressure and having one-on-one conversations with them about health issues and concerns. She keeps a log of the members’ health and offers to call doctors on their behalf. All staff members are trained in first aid, Eads said.\nThe center also provides monthly hearing screenings for its members. Jennifer Rogers, audiologist and owner of Hoosier Hearing Solutions, has volunteered at the center for about a year. Each month she screens two to four members, directing them to Hoosier Hearing Solutions or other health care organizations if there is a medical need for further care.\n“I enjoy meeting the different citizens that come in and out of the center and watching them participate in the many activities that are offered to them,” said Rogers. “While my time actually spent with them during the testing is brief, I have enjoyed listening to many of them tell me the stories of their lives.”\nThe program began in 2003, but last year the grant from the Baxter International Foundation was no longer available to the center, and the staff was forced to find a way to continue Neighborhood Nurse. At the Senior Expo at the Bloomington Convention Center last May, Brenner, account executive for Amedisys Home Health Services, said she met the center’s staff members and agreed to donate a few hours each week to providing medical care to Bloomington seniors.\nSince then, the program has served more than 200 people, Eads said. In an effort to increase membership, the center eliminated its membership fee at the start of 2008, so the Neighborhood Nurse service is completely free of charge.\nBrenner has spent only a year in the Neighborhood Nurse program, but she says that the seniors have come to trust her. \n“It’s a reflection of society,” Brenner said. “With families spreading more, having people consistently involved \nis important.”\nIn exchange for her time, the Amedisys logo appears on the program’s flyers, but Brenner said she does not pressure members to seek her company’s services.\nBrenner said she looks forward to her weekly visit to the center. “The more I come here, the more I love it,” she said.\nEads said the Bloomington Adult Community Center always needs volunteers. For more information about volunteering, contact Kim Ecenbarger at 349-3739 or ecenbark@bloomington.in.gov.