Take control of your health

{Trish Lonabaugh/Nurse Case Manager, RN:}

It's more than just nursing. You have to be able to get to know someone on a personal level and get in there and let them know that you're empathetic. You truly care about them, and you want them to do well.

{Carmen Cohens/Nurse Case Manager, RN:}

So, I want members to know that I look at them like family, you know, I chose nursing to help. And when you truly have helped someone and made that difference, it's just, just a wonderful feeling.

{Trish Lonabaugh/Nurse Case Manager, RN:}

I had a call with a retiree. I said, I see that you had multiple hospitalizations last summer. Can you tell me a little bit about that? And she's like, well, I'm feeling much better from that. My only issue is I'm on too many medications. And I said, how about you grab your meds list and we'll review them, and I can tell you exactly what it's for. So once I explained to her each medication, what it was doing and that it was likely what was keeping her out of the hospital and keeping her symptoms at bay, then she was so thankful and she was like, oh my gosh, no one ever told me any of this. So I felt like in that instance that I made a difference.

{Carmen Cohens/Nurse Case Manager, RN:}

I had a member that I feel like I made an impact on their life. The member's family member called and was a little upset because the member had received a terminal diagnosis and they weren't sure exactly what to do. There was a language barrier for the member.

So, providing you know, resources that were Spanish speaking for that person and, I spent a lot of time because I could hear the anxiety in his voice, just providing him resources and education on the diagnosis.

We spent maybe about six months working together. And the beauty of it was getting the phone call that, the cancer was not visible in certain areas. And had shrunk in other areas. We do care, we do understand what they are going through and what they are feeling is important to us.

{Trish Lonabaugh/Nurse Case Manager, RN:}

My why, why I do this is to make a difference, to help people meet their health goals and make them healthier, live a better quality of life. And for me, at the end of the day, that's what it's all about.

{Amanda Lewis-Arts/Executive Director, RN:}

We are here to put the puzzle pieces together. The nurse case managers are a critically important component of what we do at Aetna. You know they are the frontline. They are the face of Aetna for our Medicare members teaching them how to take care of their health. And helping them to manage costs while providing high quality, empathetic care. That's what we're here for, and that's what we do every single day.

{Trish Lonabaugh/Nurse Case Manager, RN:}

With my first call with a member. I try and really find out where a member is, what they're dealing with, with their health, what they're insight of their disease process is.

{Carmen Cohens/Nurse Case Manager, RN:}

We also provided resources for the caregiver because if they have caregiver burnout, then they can't be good for the member.

{Trish Lonabaugh/Nurse Case Manager, RN:}

We do medication review, we look for where there may be gaps, like, do they, have transportation to get to their doctor's office, are they able to get their medications? Can they afford them? Do they need a referral to social work? And then we just ask a lot of questions. And we can offer resources and education to just help them make their health a little better.

{Carmen Cohens/Nurse Case Manager, RN:}

We have to understand their culture barriers, their religious barriers and let them understand that we are here to be respectful on that as well and being able to adapt to their life, so they can advocate for themselves and make the best decisions for their health care.

{Amanda Lewis-Arts/Executive Director, RN:}

We will work with their providers and work together to make this a seamless, easy process. At the end of the day, that's what healthier happens together means to me. It's a community. It is all hands-on deck to support members in whatever way they need.