Liaison program links patients, volunteers

Tuesday, February 23, 1999

Liaison program links patients, volunteers

EMERGENCY: Service gives comfort to those awaiting ER
treatment

By Sarah Krupp

Daily Bruin Contributor

George Clooney may not work there, but there is one similarity
between the drama of "ER" and the UCLA Medical Center – chaos.

But the UCLA Emergency Room is just like any other one. The flow
of sick and wounded varies, sometimes the hospital is inundated
beyond capacity, at other times patients merely trickle in. But
factors such as stress, fear and anxiety are constant.

To mediate these tensions, Dr. Baxter Larmon founded the Patient
Liaison Program to provide patients with personal attention.

"All emergency rooms are inclined to provide poor customer
service. Our goal is to help provide more compassionate care,"
Larmon said.

In the ER, patients are treated based on the severity of their
condition, so many endure long waits.

"It’s not like Baskin Robbins. In an ER, the most sick people
are seen first," Larmon said.

Performing a function that doctors and nurses often can’t,
volunteers stop by each patient’s room to check on their mental,
rather than physical state.

"My goal is to regulate the flow of patients going in and out.
As far as communicating with patients, I have absolutely no time
for interaction," said Pam Shade, an administrative nurse who works
in the ER.

In fact, people in emotionally traumatic situations benefit
greatly from personal interaction, according to Dr. Robert Coombs,
a UCLA professor of psychology.

"Going into an experience like that produces anxiety. When a
person is in that state, what you want to do is touch somebody,"
Coombs said.

"There is an energy that passes between people when we hold
hands and connect with people that are willing to listen – it has a
calming effect," he added.

For their efforts, volunteers are often repaid with immense
gratitude. One patient sent flowers and cookies to all the liaisons
that assisted her.

But the job is not all sweet smelling roses – volunteers often
deal with extremely stressful situations.

"You have to be thick-skinned when nurses bark at you … (plus)
patients may treat you badly," said Daniel Purtee, a fourth-year
English and Latin student.

Recalling her first shift, Viki Hugstad said she wanted "to
bolt." during the first two hours.

"Patients are unhappy because they are sick or hurt. It’s
extremely stressful. People are short with each other and may snap
at you," Hugstad said.

But for many volunteers the negative aspects are outweighed by
their own satisfaction.

"I enjoy making it easier on the kids," Purtee said. "I make
sure that they don’t hear anything that will upset them and maybe I
will blow up a glove and put a smiley face on it – anything to take
some of the tension off of them."

Patient satisfaction is the purpose of the program, but several
doctors and nurses said they have benefited as well.

In addition, because patients have constant interaction with
liaisons, they are less likely to explode at nurses after lengthy
waits.

"Patients wait and wait and there’s no contact. Then when the
nurse comes in the patient will bite their head off, then the
nurses get upset and the quality of care goes down," Purtee
said.

Training to become a patient liaison includes twenty classroom
hours and two to three hour shifts of "shadowing" experienced
volunteers.

Volunteers learn medical skills such as CPR and basic first aid,
but understanding the shifts and schedules of the doctors and the
"do’s and don’ts" of how to help the patient are the focus,
according to Rich Thigpen, a liaison volunteer who now trains new
recruits.

Most volunteers are accepted, but not all are suited for the
job. Students must have prior experience working in a hospital in
order to join the program.

"We look for people that get along well and can act quickly to
situations. If tensions escalate they need to know how to
de-escalate and calm down patients," Thigpen said.

Currently the patient liaison program consists of only
thirty-six volunteers, but Larmon hopes that it will expand to
include 160 members.

Despite their small number, patient liaisons may have already
made a difference.

"At the clinic I usually go to, no one cares. Here they make us
feel like a human beings," said Alma Bustamente, while awaiting an
X-ray for her son. "If you need anything someone is always
there."

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