Even though we are senior care experts, we usually keep the Nurse Tip more focused on general health tips. But last month, we saw something about our work in senior care that we just had to share with you.

Nationally renowned writer and health care expert Ezra Klein (you may have seen him on TV) wrote an article about a Medicare pilot study in which R.N. patient advocates visited seniors with chronic health problems on a weekly basis, doing the same kind of work done by the dedicated nurses of Everybody Needs A Nurse here in the Triangle.

Klein sums up his–and the government’s–findings in the title of his piece: “If this was a pill, you’d do anything to get it.”

It turns out that this simple weekly visit by an R.N. did more to help people manage their chronic illnesses than any other method, including phone consultations with R.N.s.

One stunning quote from the article:

If this was a pill or a machine with these results it would be front-page news in the Wall Street Journal. If we could get these results for your grandmother, you’d say, ‘Of course I want that.’ But then you’d say, what are the risks? Does she need to have chemotherapy? Does she need to be put in a scanner? Is it a surgery? And you’d say, no, you just have to have a nurse come visit her every week. 

(emphasis ours)

You can imagine how excited we are at Everybody Needs A Nurse to see a national publication take notice of the work we are doing.

We have always been convinced that our work makes a huge difference in the health and well-being of our clients-and our data supports that idea. But to see a large-scale government study that shows the same results makes us so proud and excited for our mission of helping seniors and others deal with their medical issues.

Here is a link to the whole article.

We wish you a happy and healthy Summer!

— Jennifer and Diane