In her own words, Janet Pouncy, MSN, RN, CRNP and 2018 ELB Fellow, shares her experiences during her first year as a Fellow and reminds us how Erin’s legacy is at work through people like her.
“It has been over a year since I accepted the honor of becoming a Fellow with the Erin Leigh Boyle Foundation. I started my first job as a nurse practitioner with trepidation. I turned down a higher paying job in an urban neurology clinic to work in a small rural clinic in Alabama that serves a county population of about 13,000 with a median income of $38, 937 and a poverty rate of 17.6%. 20% never finished high school and 16% have a college degree. I was unsure if I was prepared to take on this challenge. Erin would have loved this place and knowing I had the Foundation behind me and the added feeling that I was fulfilling a purpose shared with Erin, I met the challenge head on. I realize now that Georgetown University did a great job of preparing me for this role. Rural medicine is about building trust and forming relationships. I believe I am making a difference. Let me tell you a couple of success stories:
I met a woman who had been coming to the clinic for years and had multiple ER visits for dangerously elevated glucose. My first encounter with her was after an ER visit. She is diabetic and was not taking her medications. She told me she knows she should but is so busy taking care of her grandchildren and her mother that she doesn’t have time to take care of herself. We talked that day for over 30 minutes. I explained my philosophy of practice is like being a marathon runner’s coach. She chooses the race and I simply coach her to run the best race she can run. I told her I wasn’t here to bully her or to scold her for not taking care of herself. I explained the long-term effects of uncontrolled diabetes and how it could impact her ability to continue caring for her family. She returned to the clinic later that week and told me she had thought about it and was ready to make a change. Giving her permission to make her own choices and giving her the responsibility for her health without berating her was all it took. She is doing well. Her blood sugars and hypertension are under control. I am so proud of her! I am now seeing her entire family.
The second story involves a 53 year-old male who came to the clinic as a new patient. He wanted a general check-up because he needed refills on his blood pressure medication. I discovered he had recently lost his job due to cut backs and was suffering from depression. His loss of income was causing a strain on him both financially and psychologically. His normally controlled blood pressure was starting to fluctuate. He was reluctant to start on an antidepressant but agreed to try. I saw him as a follow-up a month later and he was a different person. He told me “you saved my life”. I continue to see him on a regular basis and enjoy hearing about how he started his own business and is thriving. He is still taking the antidepressant and is amazed at how much better he feels.
These are just two of so many stories. It is what makes me get up every day and go to work. It is why I went back to school after 34 years of nursing to earn my nurse practitioner degree. It is also what sometimes keeps me up at night because I am still a novice and don’t always have the right answer immediately. I am so grateful the Erin Leigh Boyle Foundation supports me. The days I struggle or feel discouraged, I remember you had faith in me and invested in my success. It has been an amazing first year! Thank you for your continued interest in my journey.”