St. John’s Nurses and Pandemic Response Focus of National Feature

Statistics seem to point to the success of nursing home models that feature smaller, more intimate settings in minimizing the effects of the COVID-19 virus. Communities like the St. John’s Green House Homes have had good luck preventing spread of the disease, and are perhaps better structured to meet the emotional needs of residents struggling through  the greater isolation that a pandemic and resulting shutdown brings to their world.

While innovative models like the Green House Project have indeed performed well over the past several months, it takes a team of dedicated professionals to keep residents safe, well cared for, and engaged. St. John’s nurses Polly Boland and Jennifer DiSalvo are two such health care heroes whose dedication and clinical expertise have led to more favorable outcomes. The two were the focus of a national feature article by U.S. News & World Report.

Read “Keeping the Pandemic at Bay in Small Group Nursing Homes” in U.S. News & World Report

Staff members identified everything they needed to do – like cleaning high-touch surfaces at least twice daily, including wiping down every light switch and doorknob in the facility – and figured out how to make it happen.

“That’s how I think we’ve been able to keep (the virus) out of the facility, because the staff has really taken ownership of the elders who live here,” DiSalvo says.