Panhandle Health District Resource Success Story - The Broken Nose

A mother called Panhandle Health District to ask if any one could help her son. She explained to the Resource phone triage nurse that her son fell off of his bike after school today and landed on his face. “He looks bad”, said the boy’s Mom. He thinks he broke his nose.” The teen’s mother explained that she has been out of work for some time and recently started a new job as a security guard. She hadn’t received her first paycheck yet. She said that she and her son have no health insurance and no money to pay for an emergency room visit. She is unsure of what to do, but is certain that her son needs to be seen. The nurse suggested to the mother, “Why don’t you bring your son in to the Health District and I’ll see if I can help you with a Helping Hands voucher.” The mother and her son checked into the Resource clinic a short time later to see the nurse for a voucher.

As an “A” fee category client, the teen then qualified for a (one time per year) Helping Hands voucher. After several phone calls to pediatric offices and Ear, Nose & Throat specialists, it was the After Hours Urgent Care that finally agreed to see him. “It sounds like he really needs to be seen but it will be at least an hours wait.” The family left PHD with the voucher in hand and prepared to settle in to the After Hours waiting room for a long wait.

I called the boy’s mother the next morning and asked about her son. She explained that his nose was definitely broken but not displaced. He also received 5 stitches in the gash between his eyes. “Theresa, the people at the After Hours Urgent Care clinic were very nice! We didn’t have to wait at all! They took him right back to see the doctor and there were at least 20 people in line.” She explained that they cleaned his wounds, numbed the area and placed 5 stitches. “They even gave us some medicine to take home.” She said that she was very pleased with the service and respect that she and her son received and wanted as many people as possible to know about it. “They also want me to take him back for follow up after his nose swelling goes down.”

The teen’s mother ended the conversation by thanking PHD and me for providing the Helping Hands voucher so that her son could receive the care that he needed and she was otherwise unable to provide for him.

Theresa Hylsky, RN

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