Cromwell, CT April 25, 2012 — Anita Grinevics, MS, RD, CSG, CD-N, recently joined New England Home Care as the agency’s first full-time clinical dietician.  NEHC recognizes the critical role of nutrition in helping patients achieve optimum outcomes that enable them to stay healthy at home.  That is why the agency is one of the very few in the industry that has a dedicated dietician on staff.  She is a welcome addition to the team and enhances the efforts of all the nurses and caregivers on the team. 

Nutrition is something that is too often overlooked in the healing process, and it is a vital element of helping clients get well and stay well.  This is true whether someone is recovering from a surgery, coping with cancer, or dealing with a chronic ailment like diabetes or heart disease.  Nutrition also plays a big role in wound healing because wounds (e.g. post-surgical incisions) sap the body of hydration, nutrients and protein.  It’s important to make sure those needs are addressed to ensure complete and rapid healing. 

When patients are in the hospital, they are certain to get three meals a day that are tailored to their nutritional needs.  However, when patients go home, all the nutritional advice received in the hospital is not always retained or adhered to.  That’s why Anita goes to patients’ homes to offer real-world advice in a real-life setting.  She spends time talking with patients about what they eat, when they eat, how they feel and their medical history.  She gets a handle on where patients might have a nutritional Achilles Heel (e.g. chocolate for a diabetic, or salty snacks for a heart disease patient) and works with them to create a tailor-made diet that helps patients achieve greater success and dietary compliance. 

She pokes around people’s pantries, reviews the contents of patients’ refrigerators, and even looks at the glassware patients use.  She’s had several diabetes patients who think they are sticking with their nutritional program by limiting fruit juice intake to just one glass a day.  The problem comes up when they should be having only four ounces of juice, but they are filling up an eight ounce glass. 

“There’s no way to really help patients get control of their nutrition if you don’t go to their homes to see how they live, and what they eat,” explained Grinevics.  “Patients really appreciate the personal visit that includes an education about how and why they need to modify their diets.  It’s empowering.”

Anita also asks that family and caregivers be present when she makes her visits because they need to understand how and why certain foods need to be incorporated, and others need to be eliminated from the diet.  She works with the people who are shopping and cooking for her patients to buy and prepare meals that will promote the patient’s health and healing.  She even helps modify family favorite recipes to fit within the dietary guidelines that will produce the best results. 

“Anita has been an enormous asset to our caregiving team at New England Home Care because she lays out a nutritional gameplan that patients understand and can stick with,” explained Kimberly Nystrom, RN, BSN, JD, president of New England Home Care.  “She also works hand-in-hand with her day-to-day nurses and caregivers to ensure they are well-versed in each patient’s unique nutritional needs.  She makes the whole team stronger and improves patient outcomes as a result.”

Debra Farren, RN and nurse supervisor at NEHC is thrilled with the leadership Liza brings to the team, “She is an inspiration to the rest of the nursing team at NEHC where creativity in care is a hallmark for the agency.  Each case comes with its own unique challenges and the nurses at NEHC all work hard to find solutions that help enhance every patient’s independence and health.  Liza has a real gift in this regard and she shares it with her patients and her fellow nurses.  The kindness and care she brings to her work benefits everyone around her.”

Liza is working on expanding that gift as she studies to get her master’s degree in nursing at the University of Hartford.  Her goal is to revitalize her teaching career and become a nurse educator.  Liza also shares the wealth of her wisdom, compassion and nursing skills as a contributing writer for nursetogether.com.

Perhaps her biggest single nursing contribution to date will be realized on a mission trip to India this Spring through Nurses for the Nations.  In India, Liza will be working with a team of volunteer nurses caring for the poorest of the poor in Andrah Pradesh, India.  The people she will be working with are from the Dalit caste which is the lowest group in the caste system.  These people are considered ‘untouchables’ and they are denied basic education, running water, electricity and sanitary sewer systems.  Disease is rampant, particularly malaria, typhoid and elephantitis, and the Dalit people have virtually no access to healthcare.  Liza is raising the money to make this trip and would appreciate donations from any who feel inspired to support her efforts to give something back.  Donations are tax deductable and can be made online at http://nursesforthenations.org/donatenow and clicking on “Donations to India, Reaching the Untouchables.”  After donors enter their names, please state ‘in honor of Liza.’  For more information about Liza’s mission trip to India, contact her directly at 203-568.0852.

NEHC recognizes the value of the nursing care and compassion Liza, and all the NEHC nurses, bring to in serving their patients everyday.  Thanks for joining us in celebrating this extraordinary member of the team, and the profound impact she is having here in Connecticut and around the world.

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Depending on your needs, items for your “Go Kit” list may include:

• Extra eyeglasses, hearing aids if you have them, or have coverage for them.
• Battery charger and extra batteries for hearing aids, motorized wheelchairs, or other battery-operated medical devices.
• Copies of medical prescriptions, doctor’s orders, and the style and serial numbers of the support devices you use.
• Medical alert tags or bracelets or written descriptions of your disability and support needs.
• Medical insurance cards, Medicare/Medicaid cards, physician contact information, list of your allergies and health history.
• A list of the local non-profit or community-based organizations that know you or assist people with needs similar to yours.
• A list of personal contacts – family and friends – that you may need to contact in an emergency.
• If possible, extra medicine, oxygen, insulin, catheters, or other medical supplies you use regularly.
• If you use a motorized wheelchair, have a light weight manual chair available for emergencies.  Know the size and weight of your wheelchair, in addition to whether or not it is collapsible, in case it has to be transported.

Another important thing to keep in mind is to plan to maintain your independence before an emergency strikes.  This includes:

• Create a support network to help you plan for an emergency.  Consider family, neighbors, friends, people who provide services to you, faith-based and community groups.  Tell these people where you keep your emergency supplies.
• Contact your city or county government’s emergency information management office and work with theme to use their emergency planning resources.
• If your receive dialysis or other life sustaining medical treatment, identify the location and availability of more than one facility and work with your provider to develop your emergency plan.
• Show others how to operate your wheelchair or other assistive devices.
• Keep contact information for local independent living centers and other disability service organizations in a safe and easy-to-access place.  If you provide any organization with information about your functions needs and what you may require in an emergency, keep that data up to date.
• If you use in-home support services, Meals-on-Wheels, Life Alert or other support services, work with them to personalize emergency preparedness plans to meet your needs so you can keep in touch with them during and after an emergency.
• Work with local transportation and disability services to plan ahead for accessible transportation if you need that for evacuation or other reasons during a disaster.
• Develop back-up plans for personal assistance services, hospice, or other forms of in-home help.