Get smart about patient advocacy and 'concierge nursing' with Nurse Connect

Nurses Nicole Hanson and Jackie Faryna launched Nurse Connect earlier this year as a way to help patients navigate care needs both at home and in the clinic. They sat down with Sioux Falls Simplified to talk about their new business, misconceptions about the healthcare system and their upcoming ribbon cutting.

Answers are edited for length and clarity.

Let’s start with your background – how did you “get smart” about patient advocacy and concierge nursing?

Jackie: For me, it was dealing with a lot of challenges – from taking care of my grandparents in their elderly years and also just years and years of working in the hospital and seeing what people need, what people ask for.

• It would've been great to have somebody who could've taken my grandparents to the cardiologist and told us exactly what is going on if we couldn’t make it to their appointment ... there were definitely a lot of procedures that we had to team up and figure out which family member was going to take off work and help them in their recovery.

I think that is a huge driving force of why I wanted to create a concierge nursing service, because I think a lot of people can utilize what we’re offering.

Nicole: When I had worked in the covid ICU era, that was such a shining moment to reinforce, when you do not have the ability to have advocates and family members at the bedside, how much it affects care.

• It just was very telling that family is so important – people who can speak for you and be involved and be a medical voice.

Healthcare is just so overwhelming because there's just so many facets. ... It'd be nice if there was something outside of those realms who was an unbiased person.

We’re all about simplicity here. Can you describe what Nurse Connect does in 10 words or fewer?

Offers advocacy, care coordination and private care to patients at home.

Ok, now use more words. How does Nurse Connect work?

Nicole: It definitely is very broad. Someone calls us or sends an email, and we learn what their needs are – (for example) if they're like, 'I have a surgery and need assistance at home after the surgery.'

• It is a private pay practice at this time.

Jackie: I just think about the mom (like me) who’s having to do food trials for her kid who has maybe anaphylaxis and just would want someone there with them.

• Or, a college student who has to get their tonsils out – Instead of having their parents fly out, we can take them to their appointment and help them recover at home.
• All the way up to someone who is in a long term care facility or hospice, we meet with the family, meet with the patient, and we can go and spend time with them and advocate for them the things you would do as a family member.

We can also offer transportation and advocacy services for patients that need to go to Mayo Clinic or somewhere in the Twin Cities or Omaha.

What’s something that’s often misunderstood about patient needs in navigating the medical system, and can you help us set the record straight?

Jackie: I feel like a lot of people feel like they're a number in a huge system and that maybe the healthcare system doesn't have time to listen to them or have time to get down to what they are really there for.

• People who are in healthcare really passionately care about people and want to do everything they can to help them, but there are so many limitations put into place by things like lack of staffing and reimbursement and insurance and all kinds of things that make healthcare more difficult to provide care to patients.

That is a huge driving force of why I think that we can be a help not only to the patient side, but also on the provider side because we can take the information that's being given to the patient and simplify it down during the appointment by helping ask the right questions and maybe shortening the length of the appointment.

Nicole: When I have a patient, no one knows everything and every answer. That's why you're seeing specialists, but you need someone who can rein it in and make it translated.

• Even if I don't know a medication, you know what, let's call a pharmacist. Let's use our resources.

That's where care coordination comes in on our side. The physician is in charge of the plan and we're there to hep make the plan happen.

You have a few events coming up – tell us about those.

Nicole: Come to our ribbon cutting on Monday (from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 7001 South Edinburg Place – more details here).

• Jackie and I have been working on Nurse Connect for more than six months now, but we've only officially been in business two months now. We're celebrating that with a ribbon cutting and business launch party.

We'll also have a booth at the Peace Lutheran Church craft fair. It'll be a blood pressure screening, a little health quiz, and anything you buy at the craft fair proceeds go to youth ministries at Peace Lutheran. (That event is Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.)

Anything else you want the good people of Sioux Falls to know about you or your business?

Jackie: We will make all of our clients feel like they’re our family members. We want it to be a luxury-feeling business, but attainable for most.

Nicole: I think we do go above and beyond a home health aid. We do a pre-screening. We literally spend so much time with the patient before we see them because we want them to be comfortable with us.