Monroe Community Hospital

Karoline Schulz

Collaborative Care Leader

I have spent my entire career working in healthcare in some capacity. Starting from the ground up. In high school I began as a dishwasher at an ALF. I’ve worked housekeeping, as an activities aide, receptionist, patient care aide, and was a med certified aide at an ALF while working through college. I began my career as an Occupational Therapist in 2003. In 2022, I became the Director of Rehab for a 400+ bed SNF/ sub-acute rehab facility.

I tell you all of this to better understand my viewpoint on collaboration. I would never ask someone to help complete a job I wouldn’t do myself. This is the philosophy I have used with students, therapists and my co-workers for the last 20 years. I know that collaborative care is better care.

In today’s world of a challenging healthcare workplace, with a severe nursing shortage, so much of my day is spent partnering with nursing on where my team can help lighten the load. I also respect and know that all levels of nursing play a key role in patient recovery, satisfaction and quality of life.

Our falls team has created activity boxes, so weekend/ evening shift who carry so much of the dementia burden have some resources to help fill our residents time with meaningful activities. I help monitor resident clinical notes and will ask my therapy team to collaborate on interventions to help to prevent an injury or issue. Close daily communication with our nursing leadership team is imperative to the collaborative approach we strive for. What are they facing? How can our rehab team help? Are there evaluations or training we can do to better meet our residents needs and then communicate follow up to families to ease nursing burden? Can we help communicate to other team members (including medical) after our assessment? Also, little things like a spilled coffee on the floor, just help clean that up!

“The interrelationships can be complicated and tensions can be high, but at the end of each day following the insight of Eleanor Roosevelt, “to know at the end of each you have made one life easier this is to have succeeded” is the philosophy we should follow.”

I know every rehab director and every therapist is asking me about productivity right now. My thoughts on this are controversial. I believe that healthcare is a business. I also believe that the person is important. Finding ways for these two thoughts to co-exist is not easy. My viewpoint is if it took your skill and time to solve the problem or train someone that should count as productive. I do work for a non-profit and I am thankful that I have the support that I do for quality of care being recognized as a first priority. In today’s world of advancing degrees and nursing shortages sometimes it is best to go back to our therapy roots. We just need to ask the question, how can we help? Then follow through! At the end of the day, almost always everyone is happier. Nursing is able to move on to something else that needs their attention, the resident and family are happier and as for the rehab team we’ve achieved our goal of making someone’s life a little easier. When you think back on it, isn’t that the reason you became a therapist?

We are a team. All levels of patient care need the other to better serve those we are caring for. The interrelationships can be complicated and tensions can be high, but at the end of each day following the insight of Eleanor Roosevelt, “to know at the end of each you have made one life easier this is to have succeeded” is the philosophy we should follow.