The insurance company representatives agreed that this program was needed. I visited their main office twice to educate some of their nurse case managers about what information they needed to properly assess the ventilator patient population. The simplicity of this formula seems to always be clouded by the caregivers' opinions and desires to move faster or push patients beyond their physical abilities. The same is true concerning strong-willed patients who try to push themselves too fast. I like to compare the body to a machine.
Energy is the body's fuel.
If there's not enough fuel to finish a trip, it doesn't matter how good your intentions are. Because a chronically ill patient has less fuel to begin with, common sense dictates not to make him or her go the whole distance too soon. Next, address the patient's nutritional needs. Nutrition is the major contributing factor to healing a skin condition. If the body needs protein to make fuel, we need to make sure that the patient is receiving the extra protein needed.