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November's Featured Member: Frank Meyers

By Molly Homan posted 11-09-2016 10:18 AM

  

November’s Featured Member: Frank Meyers

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Frank is a physical rehabilitation nurse at Ohio State, and I’ve recently seen his name pop up all over the place.  Sangita, one of our ONA organizers, found him one day while at OSU and since then he’s been meeting and getting involved with all sorts of things at ONA. As he puts it, “I never knew there were so many opportunities!” I became a bit curious about Frank – a personable guy who is so easy to talk with. It’s no wonder he’s so well-received by his fellow nurses, and even by his state representative!

 

M: Let’s start with you telling us a little bit about yourself.

F: I’ve been married for 6 years. No kids, but I do have 2 big dogs:  a pure-bred Rottweiler and a Rottweiler/Collie/Black Lab mix.

I grew up in Youngstown and graduated from Cheney High School. I came down to Columbus for school and attended OSU in 1985. I’ve called Columbus my home every since, with the exception of a 3-year move to Texas.

M: Why did you move to Texas?

F: A friend of mine accredited rehabilitation hospitals, and she got a job at a freestanding physical rehab hospital. There was another opening, so I got in contact with the manager and one thing led to another!

I’m glad to be back in Ohio, though. When I lived in Texas I spent most of my vacation time, if not all of it, flying back to Ohio to visit friends and family anyway. I missed Ohio – the greenery and the change of seasons.

M: So when did you graduate from OSU?

F: I went to Youngstown state first, then went to OSU in 1985 and finished my degree in 1990 with my BSN.

M: Where do work?

F: I work at Dodd Hall at Ohio State University Hospitals. I am a certified rehabilitation nurse since 1992.

Rehabilitation nursing is the only type of nursing I’ve done for 26 years!

 

M: So you must like it if you stayed with that area for this long?

F: Yea, I do. It’s challenging, especially with the increasing acuity, but I still enjoy it.

 

M: How has acuity changed?

F: It’s changed over the years. Especially over the past 15 years, patients are much sicker and their needs are much worse. We get patients who are supposed to have three hours of therapy, but they can’t even get out of bed. As a rehab nurse, I have a lot more focus on medical interventions instead of true physical therapy.

For example, we’re given patients for therapy but when we try to get them out of bed, we find their blood pressure is too low. So instead, of doing the therapy, we are busy starting IV fluids. Or for cancer patients that we take to therapy, we find their hemoglobin is too low so we are doing lab draws and hanging blood instead of doing therapy.

It makes it harder to focus on the actual physical therapy, and the patients who are able to do the physical therapy and their families. It takes away from them.

 

M:  Why do you think this is happening?

F: I think it’s because they’re trying to move patients from unit to unit quicker. Technology has advanced, and therefore, we’re saving more lives than ever. But the demands on nurses are also more. Those patients who would have been in the ICU 20 years ago are now on the Med-Surg floor. And patients who would have been in Med-Surg 20 years ago are now going to physical rehabilitation.

There maybe needs to be a higher acuity rehab that these patients can go to rather than our physical rehab.

 

M: I’ve been seeing your name pop up quite a bit the past few months. You’ve really gotten in touch with your union at OSU and even opportunities at ONA. How do you see your membership differently?

F: I never knew there were so many opportunities in ONA! I took on the union steward role thanks to Sangita (one of ONA’s organizers), and then I took the Legislative Ambassador class.

After getting more involved with OSUNO, I feel like I understand more than ever where my union dues are going. But I have to admit: There’s a learning curve with the union! There’s terms I’m learning, and now I know my rights as a worker and union member that are protected by law.

For example, I know other nurses who have horrible managers. I’m lucky enough to have managers who follow the rules and abide by the union contract, but not everyone has that. With the union, we have a way to make sure everyone is treated fairly. If you’re not being treating fairly, then you can file a grievance and use Labor/Management meetings to address issues.

All in all, though, I’ve only really been this involved for 3 months! And until recently, I never knew how much opportunity there is at ONA. I’m now the go-to union guy for my unit, I attended the Advocacy Academy to become an ONA Legislative Ambassador, and went to the Labor Institute to learn more about being part of a union.

 

M: We’re having another Advocacy Academy next week! What did you think of the one you went to? How has it been as an ONA Legislative Ambassador?

F: The training I went to was great!

A lot of what was taught was new for a lot of us, so it was great information. The speakers were great, and it was really good to hear all the different things ONA does for health policy. It was also great to meet people from across Ohio with different backgrounds. If you’re interested in politics and advocacy, then you should go!

One of our first assignments as Legislative Ambassadors was to meet with our representative. I met with mine, Representative Bishoff, and it went really well.

Before I went, I asked other nurses about the issues I should bring up to her.

Bishoff really listened to me, and even told her aide to take notes and look up certain things I was telling her about. She even gave me her card, asked me to come to a committee hearing (Bishoff sits on the House Health & Aging Committee) and said that she’ll contact me if she has nursing questions. She is really receptive to our Legislative Ambassador program!

 

M:  Can you describe an “A-HA” moment that you’ve had, that validated why you became a nurse?

F: I had a patient one time in Texas who wasn’t breathing well. I told the physician, and ended up going round and round with him, trying to get through to him that something was really wrong with this woman. I was only about 30 at the time. The physician finally took my advice, and we later found out that she had pulmonary embolisms.

The LPN I was working closely with came up to me, put a finger on my chest, and said, “You just saved that woman’s life.” And I thought, “Wow. I’m just doing my job.”

It goes to show that you’re gut feeling is usually right. You may not know exactly what is wrong, but if you’re gut is telling you something isn’t right, you need to listen to it.

I’ve had several other instances like that, even some that were really recent.

It’s funny, because when I was a kid I was a hypochondriac. My mom laughs that I somehow managed to be in the medical field. But I wanted to help people and make a difference in people’s lives. That’s why I ended up being a nurse in the first place.

 

 Interested in attending our Legislative Ambassador program? Find out more here!

 

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