“April showers bring May flowers” . . . and we definitely have been showered with many challenges this spring. Despite all the challenges this pandemic has thrown at us, I have seen such creativity in our teams, which leads to excitement about what more we can do.
Our MMI clinicians have been creative and innovative in adapting our services to meet our patient care needs.
- We initially transitioned large-group to small-group interactions through social distancing and utilizing new spaces;
- We moved to one-on-one sessions, in home-sessions and eventually telehealth services;
- We quickly learned as much as we could about telehealth and new ways to capture data on Zoom, using breakout rooms to conduct multidisciplinary clinics and techniques to engage our youngest learners;
- Our Recreational Therapy Department developed activity kits to send home to support families; and
- Jessica Gormley, Ph.D., in the Speech-Language Pathology Department, collaborated with a national team to develop free communication tools for patients who were intubated in the ICUs across the country due to COVID-19.
We also showed our creativity in supporting each other.
- Staff completed training on other job tasks to help others in our department as well as across departments;
- Many individuals offered to cover job responsibilities so others could be at home with their families;
- Individuals have been sewing masks for others and checking in with their peers to make sure everyone is OK;
- Departments have been hosting social gatherings via Zoom to support everyone’s well-being and stay connected across a distance:
- We have seen an increase in connection with off-site clinics across Nebraska due to increased check-ins on Zoom; and
- We have been finding ways to send messages to our families to show them we care and are here for them.
These connections and collaborations are laying the foundation for new opportunities to come. We are seeing individuals across all departments show an investment in learning and trying new technologies and innovative approaches to care. New multidisciplinary collaborations have developed to prepare new grants and provide new collaborative clinical services. We found telehealth to be a great way to observe natural mealtime environments and routines. Furthermore, with all we have learned about telehealth, we now can be confident in our ability to serve patients across the state at any time.
New growth is occurring, and we are excited to share it with the MMI community!