The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

“It’s like a family. I spend as much time with my nurses as I do with my kids and my husband. They’re part of the reason I want to go to work. Knowing that you have a good crew on at the start of your day, just makes your day start better,” explained Ashley Jacobi, Director of Nurses and Infection Control at Big Sandy Medical Center. Ashley’s praise for the nursing staff was glowing and ongoing. After nearly two years of pandemic restrictions, the trials of the times have refined the nursing crew into a close-knit team whose goal is to provide top quality, compassionate care.

Despite the fact that hospitals are struggling to fill their staffing needs nationwide, our local facility has managed to buck the trend by filling in full shifts with regular employees. “The nursing crew we have right now is reliable and stable. It feels so good know that you have that. Three or four years ago, the only full time staff was Samantha (Potter) and me. That was it. The rest were travelers. I now have a full day shift crew and just one night shift traveler.” The facility still is in need of CNAs, especially local ones.

Part of the reason they have done so well in a time of medical personal shortages is the strength of the current staff: “We have a very good nursing crew right now, between the CNAs and the nurses. My CNAs rock. They’re the ones who are down and getting dirty. They’re the ones who know the residents the best. If there’s a concern, they’re not afraid to bring it to the nurse because the nurse isn’t going to degrade them or tell them that they’re out of line. It’s a welcoming experience.”

The bond that comes with a team, working well together is one of the intangible benefits of the work: “…In the ER, you get into these flows with your other staff and you can read each others minds in a sense because you work together so much. You save peoples’ lives because you work with your family.”

For many of the nurses, the work is more than just a paycheck, it’s an opportunity to do something meaningful. Many of the nurses in Big Sandy see their job in this way. Ashley explained this to me through different aspects of the job: “We can help them do things that they didn’t think they could do anymore. I have a resident who moved into the nursing home right after I started working there. She wasn’t walking. She was using a lift to be transferred. Now, she bebops up and down the hall like it’s nothing. It’s rewarding for her, but also I get to say “I helped do that. I helped somebody walk again.” This type of care is hard, but it brings rewards that very few other professions do. Ashley was able to describe many different aspects of the work that are aspects of what makes nursing care more than just a job. From standing in as family for residents with no-one who visits to providing peace and compassionate care to hospice patients and their families, the work pays in dividends.

That is what made the nursing profession the right choice for Ashley and our other nurses serving our parents, grandparents, and community through their work at the medical center: “I’ll be honest, I got my CNA when I was 16 years old, and I just did it because I wanted a job. I remember my first day was with Deb. She put me in a bathroom with a resident who was combative, and I was like “I am done! I’m never going to do this again!” Now here I am the director of nurses and I don’t know what I would be doing if I wasn’t doing this. I used to say: I am not doing this. I am not wiping anybody’s butt. I am not cleaning up puke. But it was so rewarding that I couldn’t not do it.”

Though the work brings with it significant personal rewards, it is difficult. In recent years, the hours and emotionally demanding nature of the work has been a challenge. Though the medical center is better off than many facilities in terms of staffing, shortages often require CNAs and nurses to fill in on short notice. The passing of residents can also take a toll on staff. The season of difficulty is beginning to ease up as the center is able to implement looser state regulations for visiting families. “It’s definitely getting better, and we are definitely leading headway into visits. A lot of facilities are not allowing any visits at all. Inpatient Benefis is completely different. Alot of people say ‘Well Benefis let us in the room.’ We’re not the same type of inpatient type facility… with the long term care side there’s a lot more regs. It’s a lot stricter. But, now you can have close contact for 15 minutes. The visitor is required to wear a mask, but the resident is not required to since it is their home.” Even though residents aren’t required to wear masks during visits, they are encouraged to do so.

This is one area our community can encourage our community’s nursing staff. “A lot of it is understanding. Just understanding, knowing you might have to wait in the waiting room for 5 or 10 minutes. Our appointments for visitation are scheduled, and a lot of times if people just show up. If those common areas are in use, they are turned away to come visit later. So a lot of it is understanding that we don’t make these rules because we want to. We follow them because we want to be a facility that gets to stay open.” Ashley explained that the facility could actually be shut down due to not following Covid regulations. The nurses are as frustrated with the rules as families, but they have no real choice about the matter.

People looking for more ways to support our local facility can call and ask questions, like “Is there a time I can come visit?” “Is there something I can do? Ashley points out that there different ways that individuals can help. The best way to approach the matter is to call Lisa Sipler at the medical center and ask.