Healthcare has certainly gone in that direction. You have the cardiologist, pulmonologist, vascular specialist, oncologist, rheumatologist…and so on.

But at the heart of it all is the primary care provider—the generalist.

And home care nursing is very much the same. We work under that umbrella of primary care. I see a LOT of different things, but not necessarily a whole lot of just one thing.

So I guess, both personally and professionally, I’m a generalist kind of person. 😂

Although I’ll admit there’s always this little tug in the back of my mind telling me I need to reign it in and focus!

One of the things I keep coming back to is a program I’m working on to teach patients and caregivers how to better monitor and assess their health as they age.

I see caregivers at home who are completely overwhelmed by everything they’ve suddenly been asked to manage. Sometimes it’s a daughter, son, spouse, or friend who has been pulled in to help because there’s simply no one else—and they’re doing their absolute best, but they were never taught how to do this.

There are plenty of classes for paid caregivers like personal care attendants and nursing assistants, but where is the class for the person who suddenly finds themselves responsible for helping care for their mom, dad, spouse, or loved one?

I couldn’t find one.

So…I’m trying to build it.

I wish I could pour all my time into that project in addition to the garden, farm stand, and everything else, but I still have to work to pay the bills! 😂 So unfortunately, that project has been put on the slow track.

Not because I don’t believe it’s needed—I 100% do—but because apparently I am a generalist with only so many hours in the day. 😉

One little healthcare tip for your summer:

I had a patient recently who was incredibly stressed when I arrived. She had received a letter that her pharmacy was closing. Then another saying her insurance would no longer cover her Dexcom glucose monitor and she would need to switch to a Freestyle Libre. Another patient’s mail-order pharmacy was out of one of his medications, leaving him scrambling to figure out where he could get it filled.

They say the one thing you can count on in life is change.

That is especially true in healthcare!

If you need to change pharmacies, start by calling the new pharmacy. In many cases, the pharmacist can contact your current pharmacy and transfer your prescriptions over. You generally don't need to start by calling all of your doctors and asking them to send new prescriptions.

There are exceptions—some medications have special rules and may require a new prescription—but for many routine prescriptions, the pharmacy-to-pharmacy transfer is the easiest place to start.

And if your pharmacy doesn't have your medication in stock? That's a little trickier. You may need to call around to other pharmacies to find one that has it available. Once you find one, your prescriber can send the prescription there if necessary.

I know…it’s a pain.

But healthcare changes, pharmacies change, insurance changes, medications change—and sometimes the best thing we can do is take a deep breath, figure out the next step, and keep moving. ❤️