DorlandHealth

How Volunteering Improves Your Case Management Skills, Enhances the Understanding of Case Management, and Fulfills Fundamental Needs

Volunteering is like “the circle of life” or the “pay it forward” theory. I think that typically one begins volunteering because of a sense of excitement about a cause. The excitement might be fleeting — you walk once for the March of Dimes, you buy pink to support breast cancer, or you give blood because you heard that there was a shortage. You give to all the school functions, and maybe you organize an event for the school, church, office, or other organization you belong to. I was such a volunteer.

I began small with the March of Dimes, progressively volunteering more and more and for longer-commitment projects. But rather than volunteering until I was burned out, volunteering for such an organization always paid me back in immeasurable rewards. Just before I turned 18, I donated a pint of blood to a drive held at my college. This led to a personal challenge to donate and reach new gallon levels. Forty years later, at an incremental rate of a half hour every six to eight weeks, has led to 20-plus gallons of blood.

Girl scouts, school activities, breast cancer awareness, and even the Fly Fishers for Conservation — all of these have “teased” me into volunteering or donating from time to time, or even on a regular basis. And all of these organizations and donated time have given me a great satisfaction and sense that I have paid back something to the communities that touch my life.

Personal Touch

I became an amputee in 1995 as a result of an accident two years earlier. It became apparent that, as a nurse, a recently converted case manager, and an employed middle-aged woman in relatively great health, who adjusted to this new challenge and who had the resources and knowledge in the health care field, that I might be able to help others who are faced with the loss of a limb. My line of thinking was simple: who decides to volunteer for amputees besides other amputees? And the majority of amputees simply do not have the professional advantages, resources and background that I do.

Here is where I see the circle-of-life and pay-it-forward themes working at their best. Because I was given the knowledge, support, resources, and the finest prosthetic services and equipment available — because I was able to succeed — I felt that I owed it to my community, per se, to pass on what information and support I could; to advocate for better services and parity in the field; to reach out to those who did not have the opportunities that I did; and in the end, to improve others’ quality of life, access to quality care, standards of living, and the provision of much-needed support and information.

At first it was sporadic. Then the peer visits became part of formalized visitation programs at the hospitals. The support group was established and continues to this day, 14 years later, granting amputees the remedial actions of seeing, talking, and sharing with other amputees. An extraordinary boost came next. Through collaboration with San Joaquin Valley Rehabilitation Hospital, the physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, area prosthetists, and other health professionals, a free, multidisciplinary clinic emerged to meet the various complex challenges faced by these individuals.

Prior to the clinic, which is held approximately four to six times per year and has been going strong for nearly five years, many amputees’ needs went unmet. There was generally a lack of education and communication and a fragmentation of care, as well as a delayed fitting of prosthetics, a lack of follow-up care, underutilized rehabilitation services, and hundreds of amputees who were not reaching their individual potential.

As a case manager or related health care professional, perhaps working with amputees does not excite you, and maybe limb loss has not touched you personally. But if the day comes when a client or family member faces the loss of a limb, I urge you to contact the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA), from which you can obtain information packets and the contacts of peer visitors and support groups in your area.

Volunteering has brought me a certain amount of prestige, it is true. A few years ago, CMSA recognized my community efforts when I was bestowed with the annual Award of Service Excellence. In September 2008, the ACA awarded me with the National Volunteer of the Year Award. The public awards can be great, but nothing is more rewarding than knowing that my efforts have led to major differences in people’s lives.

A woman I know who is a retired teacher was talking to her family about suicide after losing her leg in an accident. A physician and case manager called me, and she and I talked for about an hour. When her grown children returned to her room, she was “her old self” again and ready to take on the world. I saw her a few months later accompanied by her son, walking around and wearing her prosthesis under a long skirt. I could not tell that one of them was an amputee. She and her son have continued to support the group and have referred several other amputees for services.

At our first clinic, we had three above-the-knee amputees arrive in their wheelchairs, and within weeks all three were fit with proper prosthetics. Two are now using the prosthetics as their main source of mobility rather than a wheelchair.

My message here is short and simple: Volunteer. And reap the benefits of your service.

Lizbeth A. Drury-Zemke, RN, MS, CCM, CLCP, is a nurse case manager, certified life care planner, and amputee liaison based in Fresno, Calif. Ms. Zemke is a member of the CA Brain Injury Association, CMSA, and the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals. [ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ]