DAISY nurse March -- Wu Jia-Yun

Nurse Wu Jai-Yun worked on the ventilator care unit for 6 years. The patients are all long term chronic respiratory dependent patients. Most of these patients are unresponsive and they stare blindly in the white ceiling every day and that may be the only thing they see day in and day out. Typically the nurse's duty can also be mundane and repetitious. But to nurse Wu, she sees her job is to not only take good care of the patients physically with compassion and enthusiasm but also provide emotional and spiritual support to the patients and their family.

She once had to attend to a 70 years old female patient who was ventilator dependent, and bed ridden after a severe stroke. Her condition wasn’t stable and the outlook was not too optimistic. The patient relied on machines to maintain her vital signs, and her primary caregiver was her daughter. When the physician discussed the DNR option for her mother, her daughter refused and insisted on aggressive resuscitation instead.

While interacting with the patient’s daughter, Nurse Wu Jia-Yun realized that there was a strong bond between the daughter and her mother. The daughter was not married and her mother was her life’s only focus. Losing her mother would mean lose her motivation for other things. Understanding the situation, Nurse Wu Jia-Yun made exception to the visiting-hours limitation, hence increasing the time available to the daughter to care for the patient. Ms. Wu also made efforts to improve the comfort level of the patient, by relieving her pain and providing spiritual support. Through interaction, she soon developed a very good relationship with the patient’s daughter. Ms. Wu helped the daughter cope and grieve. The patient’s daughter began to understand that since nothing could be done that would improve her mother’s condition, letting go may be the best way to relieve her mother from suffering. She eventually accepted the DNR option for her mother, and the patient passed away surrounded by her family in peace and dignity.

For Nurse Wu Jia-Yun, the core of good patient care is to maintain the patient’s dignity and improve his or her comfort during illness. The scope of care is also extended to the patient’s relatives. She demonstrated the core values of Min-Sheng Healthcare Network in:

■ Honesty：
1. Complete duties within timeframe.
2. Follow hospital and department policies and procedures.
■ Originality：
1.Involved in quality indicator monitoring, and in various quality improvement projects.
2. Involve in developing nursing continuous education.
■ Progression：
1. Pursued further academic degree while working at the same time.
2. Voluntarily attended nursing administration training course and was promoted as the deputy head nurse of the respiratory care center in 2010.
■ Excellence：
1. Proactively identifies patient and family needs/difficulties and provides recourses and support.
2. Patient and family satisfaction.
■ Sharing：
1. Is a clinical mentor and teaches new staff and nursing students; she is viewed by others as enthusiastic and a patient mentor.
2. Willing to cover extra shifts and support other units when there’s a staffing shortage.

Charity Concert held to promote senior care in Taiwan

To promote and raise awareness about senior citizens’ welfare, the Yeezen Charity Foundation, and Min-Sheng Healthcare System held a charity concert Saturday March 12 in the morning in the lobby of Min-Sheng General Hospital. The Chairman of the board, Dr. Yang Min-Sheng donated a piano to Yeezen Day Care Center (the first day care center sponsored by the Taoyuan County Government), hoping to bring more music into senior citizens’ lives. The event was also attended by the head of the Social Welfare Bureau, Ms. Chang Shu-Hui, and section leader Mr. Hsu Min-Song.

The concert featured pieces performed by seven children of Min-Sheng staff ranging in age from elementary school to college students. They played scores of popular movies and other famous songs (such as Mariage D'amour, Through the Arbor Sundial Dream…) by Richard Clayderman and Keven Kern. The show ended with a performance of Dr. Yang on the Erhu fiddle.

A highlight of the concert came when eight senior citizens from Yeezen Day Care Center forming the “The Family of Pine, Cypress, and Bamboo” Chorus played the song “Happy Time”. The aim of the event was to bring a “LOHAS” environment to senior citizens, and the Family of Pine, Cypress, and Bamboo Chorus became a “happiness maker”, prompting songs, laughter, and sunshine for senior citizens. A found-raiser organized by foreign spouses selling chocolates was organized alongside the concert, and college student volunteers contributed to make this event a bustling festival.

According to statistics, there were 1.92 million people aged over 65 in 2000, accounting for 8.62% of the population in Taiwan. However, by 2009 that age group had swollen to 2.43 million, or 10.55% of the population, and it is expected that by 2050, 30% of the population will be aged over 65, making Taiwan’s population the second oldest in the world after Japan. To meet the needs of this growing population, the government encourages the establishment of various types of facilities for seniors. Day care centers offer a place for senior citizens whose relatives are working during the day, but demand for this type of centers far exceeds supply. Placing parents in senior care facilities is still culturally frown upon in the Taiwanese society, but it will be too late if we wait until the expending aging population becomes a strain on society to address the issue. This is why the Yeezen foundation wants to help the government by promoting high-quality senior care in the society.

Just like our parents would carefully choose the school we’d attend, it is now our responsibility to choose a safe and energetic day care center for our parents. For more information, please contact Yeezen Day Care Center. Address：no. 17 Ho-Shing Rd, Taoyuan City, Taiwan. Phone：886-3-3373488。