Masschusetts Nurse | April 2000

Homelessness education program planned in District 5

How do you feel as a nurse taking care of a homeless person? Do you wonder how he or she got that way? Are you angry when a person has repeated admissions for substance abuse or the consequences of their substance abuse? Are you taking care of a homeless person without even knowing it? How would you find out? And what could you do to help them if you knew?

District 5 will present "The More You Know, The Better The Care," on Thursday, April 13, from 6-9 p.m. at the Massachusetts Archives in Dorchester. The program costs $20 for District 5 and MNA members; $40 for non-members; and $10 for full-time students and retirees.

To register, call 781-255-9473 to request a registration form. For more information, please call or email rosemary@district5.org

Confirmed speakers include Barry Bock, RN, BS, of Boston Health Care for the Homeless; Christine Ragosta, RN, BSN, administrator, Nurses Clinic at Pine Street Inn; and Helen O'Connor, RN, discharge planner at the New England Medical Center. We have also invited representatives from Boston-area shelters to attend and set up displays to encourage exchange of information and networking.

District 5 started a homelessness issues group over a year ago after the Nursing Education and Practice Committee sponsored presentation Discharge to Where? Homelessness Across the Lifespan: Nursing Challenges for Continuity of Care. That subject has continued to be our focus, with a practical information guide to medical and nursing services offered in the shelters still in the works. However, there are still many other issues regarding nurses who care for the homeless, both in hospitals and shelters, which are yet to be explored.

The goals of the Apri1 13 educational offering are to increase nurses' understanding of the culture of homelessness, common health problems experienced by homeless individuals, the barriers to providing health care to homeless persons, and community resources available to nurses caring for homeless individuals so that nurses may be more effective in discharge planning and ensuring continuity of care. Clearly, this educational program has information for discharge planners, emergency room nurses, and others that may interact with this population.