Geriatric Times - Cleveland Clinic - Cleveland Clinic Home

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Geriatric Times
9500 Euclid Avenue/AC311
Cleveland, OH 44195
GERIATRIC TIMES | FALL 2009
Clinical Nurse Practitioners Can Fill the Gap
09-GER-002
24
Anne Marie McNeill, RN, a Cleveland
Clinic data registry nurse who is nearing
completion of her clinical nurse practitioner
training, was among those who took
advantage of the chance to rotate in
Geriatric Medicine.
What drew you to a rotation in Geriatrics?
I live in that world! I’ve been taking care of older relatives my
whole life. Most recently, my mother-in-law lived with us for two
years before going into assisted living. She had some pretty significant
health issues. When other people in the family couldn’t
deal with her problems, I always could.
How much time have you spent in Geriatrics?
I’ve spent 12 hours a week for 15 weeks in the outpatient
Geriatric Clinic. I am putting in additional time in the Aging
Brain Clinic.
clevelandclinic.org/geriatrics
With a dire shortage of healthcare providers in geriatric medicine and a rapidly aging population, Cleveland Clinic
geriatricians are helping to train new practitioners. Staff members are making inroads by participating in the
training of students in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and managing rotations of internists through the
Section of Geriatrics. This year, they added rotations for clinical nurse practitioner trainees interested in the �eld.
What have you learned?
I have learned a lot about how to assess the geriatric patient.
Physical assessment is a big thing in geriatrics. I’ve learned how
geriatric patients actually relate to healthcare professionals.
They don’t always tell you exactly what you think they should.
Sometimes you have to dig to find out what they really need. For
example, they may need respite services or Meals on Wheels.
This department provides so much information related to available
resources in the community that can be both helpful and
keep patients out of crisis.
What has been the most valuable part of your rotation
in Geriatrics?
Being able to help an elder person remain independent and feel
worthwhile is very rewarding. The clinicians I have worked with
have a very good perception of what is helpful and what is not,
and of how best to direct a geriatric patient’s care. They are good
educators of other clinicians, but are also excellent educators of
family members, which ultimately gets the patients what they
need. Geriatricians really have an impact on how older patients
live their lives.