Margie and Dan Liguori are only too happy to talk about their many experiences with VNA home health care. Dan was the first to enlist VNA’s services about 15 years ago when he needed post-op care after rotator cuff surgery, and again in 2018 after he had knee surgery. His experiences with the VNA nurses were so positive, he chose VNA home health care the following year as well, in 2019, after a shoulder replacement. “We are not the kind of people who get real caught up in the healing process. We’re usually ‘let’s get going,’ says Dan, acknowledging that sometimes you need help to do just that. “When they come to your house, it’s very advantageous, and even though you wish you didn’t have to go through the exercises, the people from VNA were always polite, accommodating and professional. I have never had an experience that wasn’t positive.”
Margie, who has used VNA twice, concurs. Most recently was last June, after she was in the hospital receiving treatment for two kidney stones. The procedure involved a laser, stent and catheter, which she left the hospital with. The VNA nurse arrived the day following her surgery, took the catheter out and cared for Margie for about ten days. “The nurse just anticipated everything and would say ‘watch for this’ and ‘don’t get panicky if this happens’,” says Margie. “It wasn’t just ‘come in and take your temperature and leave,’ it was more interaction required because of the situation and it was impressive to me because of the way it was handled… She was very thorough and very accommodating, and she made me feel very comfortable.”
But there was one incident in particular that made Margie a VNA fan for life, and it took place when her nurse was off duty. “What I really liked about VNA was one of my days I had a question, and I can’t remember what it was, but it was kind of a dumb question, and when I called the nurse she said, ‘First of all, there’s no dumb questions, so just ask and we answer it.’ And also, it was a Friday afternoon and you know usually you’re not going to talk to anyone until Monday, but she answered – that was above and beyond and it relieves so much anxiety,” recalls Margie.
When Margie was on the mend and no longer needed a nurse, she had mixed feelings. “I was kind of disappointed when she wasn’t going to come anymore because when you see them every two or three days, they almost become a friend and it’s a nice feeling,” she says.
