“A Crisis Call came in from a patient’s son stating his mother was missing from her home, one afternoon around 4 p.m.”
This is the opening line of a great heart-warming story by Jo-Ellen, a retired nurse, on the Alzheimer’s Community Care site. As Jo-Ellen tells it, “I took down the basic information about the patient, and found out what she was wearing.”
“After work, I was driving home and noticed an elderly woman walking along a main highway. I made a U-turn, called the son and told him what direction I was going. I got out of my car and calmly approached her. She responded to her name in a positive manner and sought shelter from the rain in my car. I called her son and the reunion was a happy one.”
“The following day, I visited the patient and her son in the home. I implemented Alzheimer’s Community Care’s usual Safety Protocol, arranged for her to get medical treatment and to get into the organization’s dementia-specific day care in West Palm Beach. I managed her case and worked with her sons for quite some time until the illness took its final toll. …”
This is just one instance of the good work at Alzheimer’s Community Care, whose Family Nurse Consultant program helps to delay nursing home placement, reduce physician office and emergency room visits, and mitigate the impact of caregiving around the clock, among other things.
Alzheimer’s Community Care is a Florida-based non-profit founded in 1996 to provide specialized care. Services include adult day service centers, family nurse consultants, 24-hour crisis line, support groups and more. The primary role is to provide potential interventions, available resources, possible measures and outcomes at key stages in the disease’s progression.
A Free Service: The Family Nurse Consultant program has no fees associated or charged.
To meet with a Family Nurse Consultant, please call (561) 683-2700 or send Alzheimer’s Community Care an email to alzcare.org . You may also reach out to the Family Nurse Consultant in your area, listed below.
Delray Beach – South Palm Beach County
Eileen Pantoliano, RN, BSN
(Boca Raton, Delray Beach)
15200 Jog Road, Suite 206
Delray Beach, FL 33446
Phone: (561) 381-0231
Fax: (561) 381-1073
Pahokee – Belle Glade
Barbara Beshere Phone: (561) 924-7283
470 Barack Obama Boulevard
Pahokee, FL 33476
Lake Worth – Central Palm Beach County
Aurora Tancillo, RN, BSN
2164 Jog Road
Greenacres, FL 33415
Phone: (561) 432-0668
Fax: (561) 432-0173
West Palm Beach – Northern Palm Beach County
Maureen Hyland, RN
800 Northpoint Parkway, Suite 101-A
West Palm Beach, FL 33407
Phone: (561) 683-2700
Fax: (561) 683-7600
Martin County
Christine Brannigan, RN, BSN
Towers Building
1111 South Federal Highway, Suite 116
Stuart, FL 34994
Phone: (772) 223-6351
Fax: (772) 219-2074
St. Lucie County
Erika Turk, RN
c/o St. Peter Lutheran Church
2900 South Jenkins Road
Fort Pierce, FL 34981
Phone: (772) 460-9166
Fax: (772) 466-9562