Friday, March 29, 2024

Zimmer to replace Jerome as Lake Chelan's community nurse

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CHELAN – Susie Zimmer has been getting to know clients and the needs she will be filling in as she takes over as the new nurse for the Lake Chelan Community Nurse program.

“I’ve lived here for 30 years, I live in Manson and I like to garden and farm … now that is changing because I am in town a lot more,” Zimmer said.

Since August of 2017, Michelle Jerome has served the greater Chelan Valley from Manson to Chelan Falls visiting, assisting and educating vulnerable and older adults in their homes as the community nurse.

Recently, Jerome and her husband decided to move to Twisp, leaving behind the big role as community nurse open. After consideration, Zimmer has stepped up and will fill in Jerome’s nursing role.

Back in November, Zimmer joined Jerome in some of her in-home visits to “get a grasp” of the program. “I have been a nurse for a very long time this is just different, it is a totally different setting,” Zimmer said.

A month later, Zimmer started shadowing Jerome and now she is doing some charting and becoming more independent. Zimmer has also gotten the chance to take a closer look at the different resources in the Chelan area. Once she get’s a full picture of the program itself, she feels that she will be ready to step up as a community resource.

Next month Zimmer will be shadowed by Jerome and in March she will be consulting all on her own.

The Community Nurse program is free and was initially funded by grants and generous donations from those who helped Jerome.

At the moment the program has no grants and now both nurses are actively fundraising. “It is between $2,000 to $2,500 a month budget right now for a half-time nurse,  which includes expenses,” stated Jerome.  

According to Jerome, “Keeping the program at its grassroots and being funded by grants and donations makes it possible to see everybody, we don’t go in and ask for payment, we are not reimbursed by any government entity, it’s totally grants and donations. That makes it accessible to all.”

The program has maintained in constant growth, at the end of the first year Jerome stated that the program had 50 clients. Right now in the database, there are over 200 people that Jerome has had contact with. “We currently have active 23 clients but we are also keeping track of another 27,” said Jerome.

One of the other services the Community Nurse program offers are blood pressure screenings. Those screenings target a lot more people, “it helps us introduce ourselves to the community so it’s a good opening if they need some type of help at home,” explained Zimmer.

Jerome states that herself and Zimmer hang out a lot at the Chelan Senior Center and people there recognize their work as nurses. When the seniors see their health declining they know they should contact the nurse to get checked out. The nurses also get a lot of referrals from the clinic.

According to Jerome the program is having a hard time serving the Hispanic community. Due to this, a student nurse working towards her BSN is working on a project that will help the program reach that population.

In March, both nurses will be presenting at the Northwest Rural Health Association Conference in the Sea-Tac area. The topic of their presentation will be on ways to develop a program as the one currently here, “it was not really hard to do, in a small community because everybody knows everybody and as long as you can figure out a way to get some funding then it’s not that hard,” said Jerome.

Zimmer’s goal as the new community nurse is to serve the needs of the community to the best of her abilities.

In order to continue to serve the Chelan community, Jerome hopes to get approved for another big grant of some sort, as she and Zimmer continue fundraising. A Go Fund me account has been set up for the program, if you wish to donate visit Facebook under Lake Chelan Community Nurse.  Donations can be sent out to PO Box 1058, Chelan, 98816, labeled Community Nurse.

For more information on the Community Nurse program contact Michelle Jerome and Susie Zimmer (509)679-9059 or chelanvalleycommunitynurse@gmail.com.

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