Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This show is not a substitute for professional counseling and no relationship is created between the show host or guests and any listener. If you feel you are in need of professional mental health and are a UA student, we encourage you to contact the UA Counseling center at 348-3863. If you are not a UA student, please contact your respective counties crisis service hotline or their local mental health agency or insurance company. If it is an emergency situation, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: It's six o' clock and time again for Brain Matters, the official radio show of the UA Counseling Center. We are broadcasting from the campus of the University of Alabama. Good evening. My name is Dr. B.J. guenther and I'm the host of the show along with my colleague and producer Kathryn Howell. And in case you don't know, this show is about mental and physical health issues that affect college students and in particular UA students. So you can listen to us each Tuesday night at 6pm on 90.7 FM or you can listen online at WVUAFM UA edu. You can also download one of your favorite apps. I like the MyTuner radio app and you can listen live that way at WVUAFM 90.7. Also, I say this every week. I make this announcement every week. If you are listening and you have ideas for upcoming show topics, we're mid I'd say mid semester we've got a few more shows before the end of the semester. We don't do shows in the summer, so in the fall we'll need some ideas for some new shows. If you have any ideas, email those to me@brain mattersradiobuafm ua edu and of course I'll consider using your show topics. And you know, I'm thinking we probably need to revisit some of the common issues like stress management, depression, test anxiety. We I don't think we've done just some basic college student topics, even maybe sleep disorders. I love doing sleep. I love talking about sleep issues because I feel like students are always coming in with sleep problems. Sometimes they'll even talk about that before they talk about other things that maybe is causing the sleep problems. So again, if you have ideas for shows for topics for our show, email them to me@brain mattersradiovuafm ua edu and hopefully we'll get that on the schedule for fall. Today we're talking about personalized care and how it connects to both our physical and mental well being. Joining me is Bailey Ray, who's the owner but she's not only the owner of home rn, but she's also a registered nurse. And homern, in case you don't know, it's a concierge health care service that brings medical care directly to you, from IV therapy to urgent care and wellness treatments, all in the comfort of your home.
So if. If you've never heard of that, I don't know how long it's been around, but maybe Bailey will answer that for us. But it's sort of a new service that I think some people just don't know about. And it reminds me of, like, back in the old days when there used to be doctors visits at home. And it's kind of nice to know that, that.
That you can access this service. Thanks, Bailey, for being on the show.
[00:03:22] Speaker C: Yes, I'm so glad to be here. Thank you for inviting me and happy to be here today.
[00:03:27] Speaker B: Tell the listeners a little more about yourself, like what your credentials are. I mentioned you're an rn, what your credentials are, how long you've been doing this, and why you're interested in this.
[00:03:39] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely.
So I actually grew up here in Tuscaloosa, born and raised, went to the University of Alabama, got my bachelor's in nursing roll Tide from. From Capstone.
I graduated from UA in 2011 and moved to Birmingham, where I got my first job at UAB on the floor. It was the surgical neurosurgery floor called unsn.
I spent five years on unsn. After being a nurse for a year, I applied and started a master's program in nursing, where I got a master's in nursing and health systems administration, which allowed me to move up in the management world at UAB After UNSN actually moved to UAB Highlands, which is a smaller campus of uab, and I managed a medical surgical unit. So we saw everything from, you know, somebody coming in that was septic to somebody that was, you know, a sickle cell crisis patient. We kind of saw it all.
And then for my last three years at uab, I actually moved to the ambulatory side at Kirkland Clinic, and I managed the urology clinic. And I actually started In February of 2020, right before COVID hit.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: You know,
[00:04:57] Speaker C: that was definitely an eye opener.
Getting to learn 15 plus new male doctors, trying to manage a clinic with myself and one other nurse still doing procedures while everybody was stuck at home trying to keep people out of the hospital.
So it definitely gives me a huge respect for the field I'm in now, owning a business where I get to take care into people's home and allow them to be at home and not have to go to the hospital, hopefully, and be that liaison between their primary care physician or whatever physician they might be seeing with whatever chronic illness they're dealing with.
So it makes, it makes a huge impact. So I bought Homern in March of 2023. So it's been three years and it's been a wild ride. But I'm so happy I did it, and it's great to be serving the community that I grew up in.
[00:05:51] Speaker B: It's. And, and you were pro. Were you commuting back and forth to Birmingham from here?
[00:05:56] Speaker C: No, we did live in Birmingham.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: Okay.
That is.
[00:05:59] Speaker C: No, we did live in Birmingham. Easy drive.
[00:06:01] Speaker B: But it's not, is it?
[00:06:03] Speaker C: Yes. No, it's not. So we did live in Birmingham for those 12 years, but it's. We've been back here for three years now, and we're glad to be back in Tuscaloosa for sure.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: Are you going to teach at the university? Are you going to teach in the nursing school at all? Have you been asked to do that with your experience?
[00:06:18] Speaker C: We have a great relationship with the Capstone College of Nursing. And, you know, I won't say no. I never know what the future holds. But right now, home RN consumes about every minute of my day, along with my. My two daughters who are 6 and 2. So it's very busy. But the nursing students are a huge part of home RN. I would say out of my 170 caregivers that I employ, probably about 50% of them are UA students.
[00:06:47] Speaker B: What good experience for them, you know, not just, not just in the, not just in the medical aspect of it, but the patient care aspect of it. And I've got some questions for. About that for you, but before we get to that, what are some. What are some. What is something people think concierge service is for, but they're actually missing some of the biggest benefits? What.
What are some of the misconceptions? I guess, yes.
[00:07:15] Speaker C: So I guess people hear concierge, you know, they think, oh, I can't afford that. Or that's something that, you know, I can't. I wouldn't be able to get that.
When in today's healthcare and time, you know, everything is expensive. Insurance is expensive.
If you walk into the door of an er, even if you have insurance, you're going to at least pay a $100 copay.
And with us providing IV therapy and urgent care in the home, we can also just do skilled nurse visits. And I'll get to that. But we have obviously a supervising physician. But you would get a call and do a telehealth visit with our nurse practitioner, which there are two that rotate out. And, you know, they would do a full physical assessment over the phone, get your medical history, your medication history, so that when myself or one of my nurses go out, we know exactly what you need. Whether you are having, you know, an upper respiratory infection. If you want to be tested for Covid flu, strep, we can dip urine to see if you have a uti.
There's some UA parents that call us because their child might live in a dorm and you know, they're from California or they're from Illinois and they cannot go and check on them.
We can also do just what's called like a wellness check. We can go and check them, assess them, listen to their lungs, check their vital signs.
And there is no, you know, it's just like a one time fee. There is no, you know, contract or agreement to using our services for IV therapy, urgent care or nurse visits. So it really is a white glove service that is a huge benefit to, you know, especially students. And that is a huge population that we serve.
[00:09:00] Speaker B: And what's the percentage of students that you serve, do you think?
Oh, goodness.
[00:09:05] Speaker C: For IV urgent care, I would say, you know, at least half the people we see every week are students and a lot of them are repeats. We have people that get IVs weekly just to help with mental clarity, sleep, focus, you know, boost their immune system. So, you know, we do IVs most regularly on campus.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: Are we still in flu season? Please say no.
[00:09:30] Speaker C: Well, with spring break being last week, you know, everybody was out of town, so knock on wood, we aren't seeing as much flu. Yes. But it was, I would say February was the busiest month we had. It was pretty bad.
[00:09:43] Speaker B: It was. And IV treatment, how does IV treatment help with that?
[00:09:49] Speaker C: Ivy? IV therapy is just amazing all around. I would say our most popular IV hydrations are the Myers and the Powerhouse.
They all include magnesium, which helps with anxiety and helps your mood. It helps with relaxation, so it'll help you sleep. The B vitamins, which are B complex and B12, it's good for brain health, supporting energy, neurological function. And then vitamin C, which is also an antioxidant, helps with cognitive health, decreasing fatigue, boost your immune system.
And then we can also add on glutathione, which is an antioxidant and also helps with inflammation. So those are two most popular IVs that people get. And then if they do have the flu. We also are able to give tortola to help with pain and then give Zofran if they are nauseous or having vomiting.
So it's a.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: It's.
[00:10:44] Speaker C: You know, it's a huge asset. And we come to you. So you don't have to leave your bed. You don't have to worry about getting to the car, especially. A lot of these college students don't have cars.
[00:10:53] Speaker B: No. And you just get so weak, you know, like, it's dangerous sometimes. Driving with a fever.
[00:10:58] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Driving yourself to an urgent care. I get that. How do you. I mean, I think I know the answer to this, and you may have just answered it, but how. How do you think personalized care is becoming more important right now? I mean, people are hearing about it, obviously. I think of. Of course, close to college campuses. I think you're hearing about it more just because of, you know, word of mouth, parents, people from different states. They're. They're. You know, they're ahead of us or whatever you want to say, but, like, just somebody who is not living near a college campus and doesn't know how to. How do they learn about this? You know, is it more important?
[00:11:35] Speaker C: And it definitely is. I mean, it's.
We will go outside of Tuscaloosa county, and we have.
Especially people that. We have a lot of primary care doctors that will refer to us, and, you know, they will have told the patient, you know, you are dehydrated. That's why your blood pressure is low. You really need to go to the emergency room to get a liter of fluid. But the wife might not feel comfortable driving her husband, you know, just in that type of scenario.
So we're able to get an order from their primary care provider. Also have our nurse practitioner review their physical and medical medication history with them and then go out and give them those fluids in the comfort of their home.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: How quick is the. Excuse me? How quick is the turnaround? You said you can book someday. Yeah, that's what I'm. If I call and I need. And I've got the flu and I need an appointment, how fast is it to you come to me?
[00:12:28] Speaker C: Depends on the day, but typically we can get to anybody within an hour or two. I typically always have two nurses that rotate doing IV Urgent care. And then if it's an extra busy day, I always step in and help also. So depending on the day, but typically within an hour or two, we can be there. Unless you want a later time that
[00:12:47] Speaker B: is faster than urgent care. Yeah.
[00:12:49] Speaker C: Oh, for sure. Yeah. And you're not having to go sit in a waiting room with other sick people.
You know, how does it.
[00:12:56] Speaker B: And I'm going to get into the mental health aspect of it in a minute. But how does receiving this kind of care, you know, change the patient experience? I mean, we just said you don't have to drive, but emotionally and mentally,
[00:13:09] Speaker C: how does it change that there is
[00:13:11] Speaker B: such a thing as white coat fear in there.
[00:13:13] Speaker C: Oh, for sure. It definitely is.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: And I would think this would remove that almost.
[00:13:19] Speaker C: Yes. There's no triggering Ivy therapy. You know, IV pumps that are beeping, you know, noises that are making people more anxious.
They're able to get the fluids and the medications and be able to rest. And, you know, we do everything from coming in. If they have a migraine, you know, that's fine. We'll keep the lights off, get the IV in them, let them rest, be able to get their vital signs and get in and out as quick as possible. And when people are that truly sick, you know, money doesn't matter. You just really want to be able to take care of them and get them feeling better and keep them out of the er. Because people like that. Yes. You know, sometimes they have to go to the ER if their pain's that bad. But now that in home, Ivy therapy and urgent care is an option, people that know about it, there's definitely repeat clients that realize the benefit of it.
[00:14:13] Speaker B: Yeah, I would think it would.
And also you're able to monitor them, too.
[00:14:18] Speaker C: Oh, absolutely, yes. Yes.
[00:14:20] Speaker B: Then sometimes you get. Even in the ER or urgent care,
[00:14:24] Speaker C: you know, and then people don't realize, you know, with us being a concierge service, you know, if we see somebody just for an IV visit or an urgent care visit, and then we realize, oh, you know, they're having an asthma flare up, they're a college student, they really need to see a pulmonologist or an ENT here in Tuscaloosa, you can make a referral. Yes, my nurses will call and get them in sometimes. Same day, we've had it happen to be able to get college students appointments same day with doctors in town that they would have no clue who to call in the first place.
[00:14:56] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a big. That's a huge benefit right there, especially from people who are not from here. Okay, we're going to take our first break and when we come back, maybe take a email call, question. I don't even know what it is. So it's going to be spontaneous.
We'll be back. You're Listening to brain matters on 90.7 the capstone.
[00:15:25] Speaker C: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:15:27] Speaker A: This show is not a substitute for professional counseling, and no relationship is created between the show hosts or guests and any listener. If you feel you are in need of professional mental health and are you student, we encourage you to contact the UA Counseling center at 348-3863. If you are not a UA student, please contact your respective counties crisis service hotline or their local mental health agency or insurance company. If it is an emergency situation, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency.
[00:16:06] Speaker B: Hey, you're back. Listening to brain matters on 90.7 the Capstone. I'm BJ Gunther. We're talking tonight about personalized health care and mental health, and my guest is Bailey Ray. Bailey is an RN and she owns home rn, which is a service. How long have y' all been open here in Tuscaloosa?
[00:16:26] Speaker C: We've been open for. Well, it actually opened in 2022, but I've owned it since 2023. So it's been open now for about four Tuscaloosa, and it was started in the height of COVID in Birmingham, and now we have over 11 locations around the southeast.
So it's grown and it's. It's been fun to watch because it's
[00:16:48] Speaker B: needed and people are catching on. Finally.
[00:16:50] Speaker C: Yes. Yes. Okay.
[00:16:52] Speaker B: This is our first email question. I don't think we've answered this. What are the most common reasons clients contact you for home visits?
[00:17:02] Speaker C: So, like I said, there's two sides to home rn. So for the IV urgent care side, I would say it's people that have right now the flu or Covid that are calling with a high fever. They do not want to go to an emergency room or their parents calling from out of state saying, my child won't go to an urgent care. Can you please go to them?
So I would. I would say that is absolutely the biggest need right now that we're seeing, you know, to be able to go help students.
Also, people don't realize that if somebody is so sick and they need labs drawn and they have a primary care doctor in town, we can call that doctor and we can get an order for labs, and we can go pick up supplies from that doctor's office and go take those supplies to their house or their dorm, draw the labs and go drop them back off so that, you know, nobody ever has to leave the comfort of their home to get labs drawn. So there's so many different facets of home RN and Things that we can do, thinking outside of the box that I guess some people don't even realize we can do.
[00:18:08] Speaker B: No, I didn't realize this even in doing some research about it. Do you see. Do you see stress or burnout affecting physical health of many of your patients? Like college kids?
[00:18:19] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: There.
[00:18:20] Speaker C: There's definitely.
You know, with this day and age and social media and everything else, you definitely.
College kids, you know, trying to keep up with the social aspect of being a student at UA and also their academics.
I think it's really smart, the students and parents who do encourage their children to get IVs regularly because, you know, I guess some people think IVs are, you know, only if you're sick or things like that. But I myself get an IV at least once a month, if not twice a month. And I can tell a huge difference in my overall immune system, my. My mood, my immune system, my sleep patterns.
And it just helps with your overall cognition. I feel like I don't have that brain fog anymore
[00:19:06] Speaker B: with my. I. I probably need to start the IV therapy. I have mitral valve prolapse, and they are the doctors always on me to stay hydrated.
I don't think I can drink enough water to be hot. You know, I really don't think you. Some people can drink enough water. And that's where the IV I've never done. I've never used an IV service like this, but I think in my case, this would help me, too, because of the. Just the. Even if it doesn't have magnesium or anything. Just for the hydration.
[00:19:37] Speaker C: Yeah. You know, so before spring break, a lot of people also get them before they travel because when you. When you fly, you know, it makes you more dehydrated if you're going out west to a different altitude, it helps prevent altitude sickness.
So we were very, very busy the week before spring break with everybody traveling.
[00:19:55] Speaker B: What are there some subtle signs of someone struggling, you know, with, like, mood or stress that you've personally witnessed?
You know, even if they seem fine.
[00:20:06] Speaker C: Yeah, you. You definitely. With the repeat clients, which we do see often, you can tell if. If they're stressed, you know, they definitely might seem more withdrawn or, you know, their blood pressure might be not normal. Because we know their norm if we've seen them multiple times. So we're able to be able to, you know, talk to them and make sure they have all the resources they need. And, you know, it's important to have staff that are able to be personable and talk to them. Just because the parents that probably are, you know, like I said, out of state. Want that peace of mind. And we're able to give them that peace of mind and follow up with them after the visit and say, you know, your son or your daughter is okay. You know, we suggest them getting another IV at the end of the week and, or if they're not feeling better, you know, they need to see a specialist for X, Y and Z.
But mental health, I mean, yeah, it's a huge, well, huge key factor in everything.
[00:21:00] Speaker B: You're going into their homes. I know this from having to go into students homes sometimes and it can be a shocker. I'm not going to lie. Sometimes it's a shocker. When you meet patients, whether they're students or not in their homes, do you notice things about their lifestyle or their stress levels that you might not notice if they were to, you know, if they were seen in a clinic? I mean, that's.
[00:21:23] Speaker C: Oh, absolutely, yes. I mean, we like give some examples. That's, that's what we do. You know, we go into people's homes all day. We actually don't even have a brick and mortar office here because we are in people's homes all day long. So, you know, when you go in somebody's home, especially if they're elderly, we do care for, on the caregiving side, you know, a ton of elderly people at end of life.
Also we care for newborns. So you know, we see both, wow, you know, spectrum. So if you walk into somebody's home that it's elderly, you can tell if they are stressed and burned out. You know, if there's, you know, a very messy kitchen or sheets that haven't been changed and they're carrying that extra burden because their loved one might be declining and they aren't able to meet all of the needs of their loved ones. So we're able to, you know, connect. You know, if they can't afford caregivers to come into their home every day, we are able to connect them with other resources in Tuscaloosa to be able to help them meet those needs because there are lots of resources out there.
[00:22:23] Speaker B: So you mentioned caregivers.
You know, what, what kind of support, I guess is the, the word I'm looking for.
Do you provide for caregivers?
[00:22:39] Speaker C: So absolutely. So like I said, we hire people that are college students up to season, certified nursing assistants that care for our clients on a daily basis. Some of these caregivers, they might be pre med, they might not all be nursing. We have pre med, we have some Pre pt, pre OT speech.
We have lots of different majors, but it is a true learning experience. And we've had caregivers that have stayed with us from freshman year to senior year. And to watch them grow and all that they have learned in those four years is just so amazing. And for them to learn, we try to put match the perfect client with the perfect caregiver. We don't ever want to put a caregiver in a situation that makes them uncomfortable. So we really try to match and make sure they are compatible and that they are getting the most out of that shift to help boost the client's morale and also for the caregiver to learn something from them. Because, you know, that's one generation, you know, these, the Gen Z and then, you know, the baby boomer. And they're, they have so much to learn from each other.
And it's, it's, it's really neat to see because some of these caregivers come in with, you know, very little knowledge of medical caregiving. But then at the end of four years, they might be comfortable with wound care, catheter care, you know, and medication administration. There's so many things that they can learn.
[00:24:05] Speaker B: This is fascinating. The next question, the next email question, and this is a big one. I'm sure everybody's wondering about the money. Does insurance cover these visits?
Medicare for older patients cover the cost question mark?
[00:24:20] Speaker C: Unfortunately, no. So, yes, if you went to an ER and if you had insurance, I'm sure it would cover part of it. But just to get a plain bag of fluids from us is $158. And like I said, if you're going to an ER, you're at least going to pay a hundred dollars. Same with urgent care. If, you know, if they add on fluids, portal, you know, all the different things.
There are instances where sometimes if a primary care provider orders the fluids and they handle that on that side, we can just come out and do what's called like a skilled nursing visit to administer the IVs if we don't provide the supplies. And that's only a hundred dollars. So I don't want to say no.
But sometimes that takes longer for insurance to approve all of that. They would rather just go ahead and pay, you know, the full price to have it done and not wait on insurance to approve these things, if that makes sense.
[00:25:19] Speaker B: Yes. And when you're that sick. Yeah, it's like you, you know, you don't care. Can you share an example of a patient who has mental and physical issues but their, well Being has improved.
Can you think of a certain. Not to put you on the spot, but not to, you know, you have to be careful, like I do with confidentiality.
But can you think of something not necessarily with students, but with anybody that.
[00:25:50] Speaker C: Oh, absolutely.
[00:25:51] Speaker B: Your services, you know, like, definitely impacted their mental health? You mentioned mood before. I'm curious about that, because some of the students I see, you know, they are prescribed antidepressants or mental health medications.
How does that. How would that. Does that influence how you diagnose or how you administer the certain medications or IVs? I'm sure you communicate with their doctor. I don't know.
[00:26:20] Speaker C: Yes, typically if you on. Are on an antidepressant or something, IV therapy is totally fine to get, especially in somebody that's young, a college student with no other past medical history.
Obviously, if we're going into an elderly person's home, most elderly people have more comorbidities. And so sometimes we might have to let the fluids go in over a long period of longer period of time and not push them in as fast as to ensure that we don't raise their heart rate and make them more anxious or raise their blood pressure or anything like that.
But we do care for a student right now, and he's a quadriplegic, and it's just amazing to be able to take care of him on a daily basis. And he lives a completely normal college life. And if he didn't have our services, he wouldn't have been able to attend ua.
And so it was a big partnership for his mom to find us and reach out to us. And for him to be able to attend UA and be a completely normal college student.
[00:27:27] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, that's.
[00:27:28] Speaker C: And so it's. It's very rewarding. A lot of the people, when we get calls, you know, they can be very overwhelming and might seem like something that we can't take on. But I have an amazing team. I have a social worker on staff, Bethany Smith, and then three other nurses, and they are truly committed to home rn. I say some days more than I am. And they go above and beyond for every client to make sure that whatever that need might be, that. That we can meet it. And if we can't, we will make sure they have the resources to help them, whether it be with mental health or physical health.
[00:28:04] Speaker B: That's good. How many people are on staff there? Again with you.
[00:28:08] Speaker C: So on my, like, admin team, I'm a nurse, I have three other nurses and then a social worker who is. She functions. It functions as an office administrator, but she also has a master's in social work for me.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: Right, and then you bring the students in as needed or is there a set number?
[00:28:24] Speaker C: So all of our caregivers are W2 employees.
We have over 170 of them. Some, you know, some work full time. Obviously those are probably not the college students. The college students, one of the perks of working with us is they kind of get to make their own schedule. We schedule in two week blocks and they give us their availability. And so we are able to plug them in with clients that work with their schedule. And you know, we think that they would be a good match, you know, to be able to build that relationship.
A lot of them are companionship and that's where it comes into mood. And these, they, a lot of the elderly really enjoy. The college students, it's like it gives them a burst of energy.
It's a new fresh, young face. You know, they're very energetic and they're able to just change the, turn their whole day around just to be able to go and take them out to lunch or take them to Target, pick up their medicines with them. Things that, you know, they cannot do on their own.
[00:29:24] Speaker B: How far along, I don't know how to ask this, but how far along in nursing school do they have to be? Is there a requirement?
[00:29:33] Speaker C: No. Well, if the client requires.
[00:29:35] Speaker B: I get so confused about nursing school anyway.
[00:29:38] Speaker C: There's a lot of people that aren't even have gotten admitted into the nursing program yet, but we will still hire them. We just won't put them with a medically complex client before we send any caregiver to any home. And this is kind of what makes us different. And I'm so proud of our team for doing this, is that we, we develop a really personalized, detailed plan of care. We like to know everything about the client from when they wake up to when they go to bed. Even if we're not with them all day long, you know, we know what day their trash runs because a lot of people can't take their trash to the street. You know, what day they want their sheets changed, when do they take their medicine?
We take pictures of everything from where their like medicine box, their planner is kept to what their house looks like so there is no confusion. And then one of my nurses meets them there at the time of their first shift and trains them and walks them through all of that. And then a lot of the more advanced nursing students who have done clinicals and want to learn and gain that hands on care we will put them with a more medical client that might need catheterizations, wound care, insulin injection.
[00:30:44] Speaker B: I bet they love that.
[00:30:46] Speaker C: And so they're getting actually one on one experience of like medical care that they might not have even done in
[00:30:51] Speaker B: the hospital yet, right?
Yeah, that's right. That's why I say they. I bet they love that. I'm surprised you're just not overrun with students applying.
[00:31:01] Speaker C: You know, we do get a lot, but it's hard because we want to make sure you know a lot. I get that everybody wants a part time job, but we also really want to hire people that are invested and dedicated in it because these clients get attached to these caregivers and really develop a relationship with them. And I know Bethany, my office administrator, let me know yesterday that we have 21 college students graduating in May. So that means we need to hire 21 people.
[00:31:30] Speaker B: That's a lot.
That's a lot.
[00:31:33] Speaker C: Yes, I know. And some of these people, like I said, have been with us for three to four years and so they mean a lot to us and mean a lot to our clients.
[00:31:43] Speaker B: Are there a lot? Is home RN just like specific to Alabama or this area or there? It's all over the country now, isn't it?
[00:31:52] Speaker C: It's, it's all over the Southeast now. So we are in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina as of right now.
[00:32:00] Speaker B: That's cool. That's cool. Yeah. Hey, let's take another break. When we come back, I've got some more email questions. I've got another question about what clients benefit the most. So hang on. We'll be right back. You're listening to brain matters on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:32:25] Speaker C: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:32:27] Speaker A: This show is not a substitute for professional counseling and no relationship is created between the show host or guests and any listener. If you feel you are in need of professional mental health and are a UA student, we encourage you to contact the UA Counseling center at 348-3863. If you are not a UA student, please contact your respective counties crisis service hotline or their local mental health agency or insurance company. If it is an emergency situation, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Hey, you're back listening to brain matters on 90.7 the Capstone. I'm BJ Gunther and before we move on with the show, I want to remind everybody, if you're listening and you have some ideas for show topics, email those to me@brain mattersradiovuafmua.edu and of course, I'll consider using your show topic. Probably won't be until the fall because we're almost through this semester.
But definitely go ahead and email those to me because I love looking at those.
Tonight we're talking about personalized care and mental health, and my guest is Bailey Ray. Bailey is an rn. She's the owner of home RN here in Tuscaloosa. And just talking about all the services that are provided. The one before we went to the break, I kind of teased about what types of clients benefit the most.
You know, is it. Is it elderly? Is it college students? Is it busy professionals? Who benefits the most from your services?
[00:34:06] Speaker C: I would say right now the biggest need that we are seeing is obviously for caregiving for the elderly. That is what we do primarily IV urgent care. You know, we're busy with that also, but it comes in waves when there's flu and Covid and then, you know, people that have right now seasonal allergies, we're seeing, you know, a lot of people with asthma and things like that.
But I would say just from my side of owning home rn, when we first started home rn, we did not offer IV urgent care. You know, it's kind of come become a thing in the last two years. So we rolled it out about a year and a half ago.
But I think being able to care for people, we don't care for just the elderly, like I said, we care for. We have newborns that we have cared from from the day they come home from the hospital up to three months. And, you know, we'll make sure that we have.
That's where we do use a lot of nursing students and we ensure that those caregivers are infant CPR certified and trained to handle those type situations.
But I think the biggest need right now is that sandwich generation. We get all those calls from people that are in the stage of life where they have children, they're trying to raise their own children, and their parents are declining. And so they can't take care of their parents while also taking care of their own children.
And so they are able to call us and we are able to come out. And when you use our services, you're not signing a contract.
You can use our services once for four hours a day. And then we have some people that use us 24, 7, 168 hours a week to care, to care for their loved one in the home and like
[00:35:46] Speaker B: I said, and provide peace of mind too, when people can't be there.
[00:35:50] Speaker C: Absolutely. And so I would think that's the Most rewarding thing. You know, we have clients that use this 247 that have been with us since I bought the company.
And I just think that speaks to, you know, I really am very passionate about the caregivers that we hire and pouring into them, because without them, what we do would not be possible.
Yeah. So it's. It's a huge deal.
[00:36:13] Speaker B: It's a huge deal. And. Okay, I'm. I'm going here. I've got to ask a sticky question.
You know, I'm fixing to ask this question because I work here on a college campus in the counseling center.
[00:36:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:36:25] Speaker B: What is the percentage of students who use your services for hangovers?
You knew I was going to ask that question to you.
[00:36:37] Speaker C: It's funny. Well, we'll get a lot of calls that people say that they, you know, they. They think they have the flu or they. They think that they are really sick. And then my nurse.
Yeah, my nurse gets there and, you know, she lets our nurse practitioner know. I don't think this. This isn't the flu. You know, I think they might have just had too much to drink. And then there are some people that are honest. You can book online now.
And we do actually have an IV that's called one too many.
It's basically all the vitamins with tortol and zofran on top of it to help with that headache and nausea.
But I would say that the. The hangover calls, as you, as you mentioned, are mainly on big weekends, like football weekends.
Anytime there's a big type of, you know.
[00:37:21] Speaker B: Well, we've got the darties going on right now, so always worry about that, you know. You know, it's like the elephant in the room. Nobody's really talking about it, but we see a lot. So.
[00:37:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:33] Speaker B: Have you ever gone in with somebody who was still drunk?
And the only reason I asked that is that has happened to me here.
Having students come in still.
[00:37:44] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:37:46] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:37:46] Speaker C: I think there's definitely been some people that have still been intoxicated or used at other illicit drugs. And, you know, that's where, you know, my nurse practitioner wants them to be honest and open about that.
[00:37:57] Speaker B: I know. And that's where it can get a little scary, too.
[00:38:01] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:38:02] Speaker B: Okay, here's another email question. What if the patient has a long health care history?
Are you able to access patient portals or hospital information?
That's a good question.
[00:38:16] Speaker C: Unfortunately, no. But if there is a question that my nurse practitioner wants the answer to, we will reach out to that doctor and get that health clearance, basically, to be able to provide them that IV therapy. So we are not going to just give them an IV if we see a red flag as to why, you know, any reason why they might have some reaction to it. So we don't have access to it, but we will. Yeah, we will get that answer if we need to before we, you know, have the okay to give them those fluids.
[00:38:50] Speaker B: Is there a distance or. You mentioned this. Is there a distance or range that you serve? Is it all Tuscaloosa County? You said you'll go a little bit. Is there, like, a catch?
[00:38:58] Speaker C: So if we do go further, we technically, I cover Tuscaloosa and all surrounding counties, except for Jefferson county, because there's two home RNs in Birmingham.
[00:39:07] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:39:08] Speaker C: But we would charge a Travel fee of $50 if we have to go. We use the Tuscaloosa county courthouse. So if we're going 10 miles further past the courthouse, we would charge that $50 fee to go out for that visit.
[00:39:20] Speaker B: I hear you. Yeah, that's not bad.
What do you think's missing in today? This is a hoe. This is a big. I could probably do a whole show on this. But what do you think's missing in today's healthcare system that these services help fill?
[00:39:35] Speaker C: I just think people today need advocates. And even if, you know, they're not going to use our services, that's what I just am so grateful for. My team. They're going to be whoever calls. They're going to be an advocate for that person. Even if they aren't going to use us for IV urgent care or caregiving, we want to be their biggest advocate because we know how difficult it is if you're not in the medical field to be able to get that person on the phone or get that visit scheduled or whatever they might need.
Just because if you can't get a visit that causes you more stress, more anxiety, affects your mood, affects your morale for the day.
[00:40:12] Speaker B: I think I heard somewhere where most doctors spend, like an average. Like primary care physician spend like an average of about seven minutes.
That. I mean, that may be stretching it.
[00:40:23] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:40:23] Speaker B: With their patient, you know, and so it's lacking, like, the personalized feel that maybe you had 20 years ago, don't you think?
[00:40:32] Speaker C: Exactly. Yeah. And, you know, it's. Sometimes we're able to give the person that calls peace of mind that, you know, even if we don't come out for a visit, we're able to talk to them on the phone and kind of triage them and say, listen, we think you're okay. Like, you don't need to be seen asap. You're going to be okay to make it to that visit on Friday or we can send a nurse out this afternoon or tomorrow just to do a quick wellness check. $75 come assess you, take your vital sign and give you that peace of mind to know that your loved one or yourself is going to be okay until tomorrow or when you can get in to see that specialist.
[00:41:08] Speaker B: How do you handle.
I've done a show on. We don't call it hypochondria anymore. It's health anxiety.
How do you handle somebody who has health anxiety or let's say somebody has a severe phobia of needles?
[00:41:23] Speaker C: We've seen. We've seen all of that. So we do. We do have lidocaine cream. We can numb you up. But, you know, that does make the visit last a little bit longer. So that does help with the stick. But we try to tell people, you know, once that IV catheter is in, the needles out, it's just a plastic catheter that stays in you to get those fluids.
And then I think, like I said, being face to face with the client in their home and showing them all that, we're doing the phone calls, we're making the physical assessment, we're doing the vital signs that we've taken that are stable. You can see them decompress and relax, knowing that someone else is advocating for them and they are not on their own. Yeah, yeah.
[00:42:03] Speaker B: Do you treat with students in particular, since the majority of the people listening are students? Do you treat students with chronic illnesses like diabetes or. You mentioned sickle cell.
[00:42:15] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:42:16] Speaker B: You treat that.
[00:42:17] Speaker C: Yes. We've seen lots of people, students and children in Tuscaloosa that have. That are diabetic.
We haven't seen sickle cell as much because typically if you have sickle cell, you're on some pretty controlled narcotics in the hospital.
We have a lot of people that we see that are students that have POTS and can faint a lot, and so they need fluids a good amount. And so people also that have asthma that need that boost in vitamins. We can also just come and give injections of B12.
And we have a new injection called Tri Immune, which is a combination of magnesium, ascorbic acid and glutathione. So if you don't have. Have 45 minutes to an hour, we can come give you a quick injection of Tri Immune to boost your immune system.
[00:43:01] Speaker B: That's what it does. It boosts our immune system.
[00:43:03] Speaker C: The college students have loved, have Loved those injections just to, you know, help them power through exam week or whatever they might need.
[00:43:11] Speaker B: What about, okay, I'm going down another rabbit hole here, but it just hit me. What about Ozempic, glp, that kind of stuff? Because I've had a few students who are prescribed that and I've questioned whether or not it's another form. And I hate to say this, it's
[00:43:30] Speaker C: very funny that you say that, another
[00:43:31] Speaker B: form of an eating disorder kind of. I don't know how to even categorize that now.
[00:43:35] Speaker C: In the last month we've seen three clients that have either given themselves or been given the wrong dose of a GLP.1 and have had to have, well, they've, they've all of most. I think two of them have had to go to the ER and then they still needed more fluids on top of it. So we've had to go out and give them more fluids. Because if you give yourself the wrong dose of a GLP one, you know, it can cause days of nausea and vomiting where you are unable to.
But they're also, you know, they're having to follow up with their primary care provider because in that case you're having to have lab work drawn. But we can help, like I said, because we can come get the labs, draw them and take them back to your doctor. But that is something that in the past one to two months we've seen, I know at least three people due to the wrong. Them receiving the wrong doses. I think you're gonna see more of glp.
[00:44:26] Speaker B: I hate to say it, but I think you're gonna probably see more of that. How has technology support, you know, better care at home? How has it been?
[00:44:36] Speaker C: I mean, AI is the next thing. It's, it's.
I'm, you know, I'm 30, about to be 37, and it's, it's, it's hard some days, but you know, we have an app that our caregivers use. It's very user friendly for us to be able to read care notes from their shifts, to know exactly what's going on with our clients. And then on the IV urgent care side, clients are able, like I said, to book online, to book from Instagram or Facebook.
They're able to schedule that visit themselves and then my nurse would text them to confirm the time.
So, you know.
[00:45:12] Speaker B: So you have a patient portal too?
[00:45:14] Speaker C: Yes, we do.
[00:45:15] Speaker B: They can get in touch with you, you know, anytime, basically, or message you. That's good.
[00:45:19] Speaker C: Absolutely. Yes, we do have a nurse that's always on call 24 7.
We obviously aren't going out and doing visits, you know, at midnight for IV urgent care or anything like that. If, if we get those type of calls, typically it's somebody that really does need to call 91 1. It has happened.
[00:45:38] Speaker B: But no, I hear you.
[00:45:40] Speaker C: You know, we, if you are utilizing our services, you know, we do not. A lot of companies outsource their call and we do not outsource our call. You will get one of my nurses or my social worker on the phone.
[00:45:51] Speaker B: That's what I tell people here at the counseling center. It's not when we're on call, it's one of us rotating on call. It's not a national service. Yes. You know, and it matters. That matters to people, you know.
[00:46:02] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:46:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay, here's the big question. If someone could make only one change to improve their overall well being, what would you recommend?
That's a big one. I know it's a big one.
[00:46:15] Speaker C: Well, I think there's two sides to it. So a college student, if it was my child and they were in college, right now, I would be encouraging them to get an IV at least once a month to help with their overall health. Well being, hydration, sleep, mood. I think that they, I really do think it helps, especially in this day and time, just with, you know, everything in the world going on. I think that is key. But on the other side for elderly, I think a lot of elderly are very hesitant to having people they don't know come into their home.
But I think the biggest key there would be allowing someone to come in at least just once day a week. Once, once a week to give it a try. And then they realize how their life can be changed. And, and honestly, we see more long longevity in their life. They're allowing, yes. Other people to come in and help them.
[00:47:13] Speaker B: What do you think does getting IV treatment, do you think? I don't know how to ask this again, but do you think it can prevent sickness? Like for instance, if you have a roommate who has the flu right now, can it benefit the, the healthy roommate to come and get an IV? Does it. I mean, can you prevent.
[00:47:34] Speaker C: I can't 100% prevent it, but I mean, I get the tri immune injections or an IV and you know, I've stayed healthy, but I can't 100% guarantee that. But our nurse practitioner can also do an urgent care visit and we can prescribe zofluza if you've been exposed. Yeah, we've done that a ton this flu season. You know, we're able to call in Zofluza for those people that have been exposed to help prevent them from getting
[00:47:59] Speaker B: the actual and so flu. Says the one. It's just one pill.
[00:48:02] Speaker C: One time pill. Yeah.
[00:48:05] Speaker B: This all sounds so good. This sounds fascinating. Catherine has been telling me about this forever. How long has it been? I mean, for a long time. Because for a lot before home rn, it had to have been before then because there was only one physician, I think that did. I had never heard of concierge and this was years ago, Catherine. Yeah.
So this service is much needed. You're going to get way busier now. Even you know, you're just going to get way busier. There's going to be more students calling you for jobs, but you're going to have 21 openings.
[00:48:36] Speaker C: That's great. Yeah, we are. Yes. There's a link to apply online and we. My nurse. My nurse Tony Rick, she does interviews weekly. So we are more than happy to review those applications and we love our students. We did.
[00:48:50] Speaker B: This has been great. Thank you so much. It always goes by really fast, but this has gone by really fast. And like I said, I didn't even get to a lot of the questions that I had for you, so sorry.
[00:48:58] Speaker C: That's okay. Feel free to email me and happy to answer any.
[00:49:01] Speaker B: Do you have any more resources you think the listeners might could use?
Can you think of anything else?
[00:49:08] Speaker C: Hmm.
Just to know that, like I said, if we can't help you, feel free to call, text. We, you know, like I said, it's one of us you're getting.
We want to be your advocate. We want to be able to help you. We're local to Tuscaloosa. You know, it's where I grew up. I'm invested in it and love my community as much as y' all do. So if we can't help you, we're gonna find somebody that can. So give us a call.
[00:49:33] Speaker B: You're a good place to start.
Yes, yes, I hear you. Thank you so much. Let me make a few announcements. Don't forget, our shows are recorded and podcasted on the Apple Podcast, Spotify, AudioBoom, Voices UA Edu. You can type in Brain Matters and you'll find some of our past show. There's also a link to Voices UA Edu on our counseling center's website at Counseling UA Edu. I'd like to thank a few people who've made the show possible. Our executive director here at the counseling center, Dr. Greg Vanderwaal. My producer and colleague, Katherine Howell. My colleagues here at the Counseling Center, Gareth Garner, who edits our show every week, and my guest tonight, Bailey Rae. Join us next week. This topic is fascinating. I can't believe it. We've never done this, Katherine, but it's the psychological aspects of cults, so I cannot. I know. I cannot wait to talk about that. It'll be fascinating. Thanks again for listening. Join us the same time next week. We'll see you back on 90.7 the capstone. Good night.
[00:50:43] Speaker A: This show was not intended as a substitute for professional counseling. Further, the views, opinions and conclusions expressed by the show hosts or their guests are their own and not necessarily those of the University of Alabama, its officers or trustees. Any views, opinions or conclusions shared on the show do not create a relationship between the host or any guest and any listener, and such a relationship should never be inferred. If you feel you are in need of professional mental help health and are a UA student, please contact the UA Counseling center at 348-3863. If you are not a UA student, please contact your respective county's crisis service hotline or their local mental health agency or insurance company. If it is an emergency situation, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
