Home care patients benefit from $5,000 grant

     Officials with Eastern Maine Home Care, including Visiting Nurses of Aroostook (VNA), are pleased to announce a $5,000 grant from The Agnes M. Lindsay Trust to purchase pulse oximeters for nurses and physical therapists to use in home health care services for its patients.     “Our staff is very excited about this grant,” explained Saundra Scott-Adams, executive vice president for VNA. “They have a need for this equipment frequently to provide patient care and we have never had enough pulse oximeters to satisfy the demand. We are a very rural agency and, with the recent increase in fuel prices, we are making every effort to reduce staff mileage. The purchase of additional pulse oximeters will reduce the number of times staff must return to the office to share equipment.”
    Pulse oximeters are a valuable, safe and convenient method of monitoring the oxygen saturation and pulse of those patients with compromised respiratory and cardiovascular systems. When using a pulse oximeter, therapists can be more effective with the patient in gaining efficiencies in their breathing and overall improvement in their functioning. Nurses can detect, at an early stage, the onset or exacerbation of cardiopulmonary problems and work with physicians to adjust patient medication levels.
    For almost 40 years Visiting Nurses of Aroostook has been providing services to their Aroostook County neighbors and friends. For more information about its home care and hospice services, please go to www.visitingnursesofaroostook.org or call 498-2578.
     Last year VNA staff drove 781,813 miles to provide 42,694 visits to 1,131 patients and their families.  
    For almost 40 years Visiting Nurses of Aroostook has been providing services to their Aroostook County neighbors and friends. For more information about its home care and hospice services, please go to www.visitingnursesofaroostook.org or call 498-2578.