Julie Griffin

Feb. 15, 2021
Julie Griffin, a care manager at UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital, found a way to help patients communicate with loved ones during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Robert Allen, UCHealth.

Connecting patients, families during COVID-19 surge

When the first COVID-19 surge led to a no-visitor policy in spring 2020 at UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital, Julie Griffin found a way to keep families connected with their loved ones’ care.

“It was such a high-stress time,” said Griffin, a manager in care management. “Charge nurses were being inundated with calls, more calls than they could take.”

The calls from anxious family members, unable to enter the hospital, involved questions nurses and providers could best answer. For those treating COVID-19 patients, taking a call meant de-gowning and removing PPE to answer the phone.

“We needed a plan in place to continue the patient experience UCHealth is known for,” Griffin said.

Meanwhile, the freeze on medically-necessary surgeries had steeply reduced the workload for other UCHealth nurses in units such as the operating room or orthopedics. In the first week of April, Griffin swiftly developed the Nurse Communication Liaison program to have these nurses work from home, serving as a connection between the patients and their families.

About two nurse liaisons were assigned to each unit, each for three consecutive days. They would call into multidisciplinary rounds and securely access electronic health records and chat functions, following up with the family members.

Mary Scannell, regional director of patient experience, said Griffin supported the liaisons with tools and a well-defined process as well as recognition and reinforcement to make them understand the value of what they were doing.

“The team was willing to step into the unknown because they had a high level of trust in Julie and were able to fully embrace the role and process,” she said. “It was a huge satisfier for patients and families, and extremely helpful to staff. I have heard many nurses comment that they wish the role was still in existence.”

The phone calls to charge nurses decreased, the nurse liaisons were able to keep working, and families were kept in the loop on care. The liaisons served to support and supplement regular communication the families received from physicians.

PVH ICU Nurse Lauren Carlson said the liaisons were “absolutely vital” in maintaining a consistent connection.

“I was able to focus on taking care of my patients and giving them the best possible chance of survival, knowing that their families were up to date on everything that was going on,” she said, adding that having a liaison assigned to the same unit for multiple days allowed them to build rapport and avoid repeat information.

UCHealth’s Nurse Communication Liaison program was featured in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association for its success in reducing pandemic-related communication barriers between patients and families.

Also during the pandemic, Griffin also was key to organizing the survivor-sendoff celebrations for COVID-19 patients being discharged. Providers and staff would line a hallway, cheering as the patient approached the hospital exit.

“I get goosebumps just thinking about it,” Griffin said. “It’s impactful to celebrate somebody’s life in that way.”

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About the author

Robert Allen loves meeting new people and learning their stories, and he's continually inspired by the patients, staff and providers he meets at UCHealth.

A journalist for 12 years, he joined UCHealth after reporting and editing at the Detroit Free Press. He is the author of Fading Ads of Detroit, a book exploring connections between classic Detroit brands found on ghost signs and in the personal histories of Detroit residents. He previously reported for the Fort Collins Coloradoan, Summit Daily News and Montrose Daily Press.

His outdoor adventures include scrambling summits, hunting powder stashes via snowboard and rafting whitewater. He earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oklahoma State University and MBA from Colorado State University. He lives in Windsor with his wife, Rachel, and their obstinate pug, Darla.