Customer Case Study:
Jennifer Hood is the Outpatient Perianesthesia Nurse Manager at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina, Minnesota, a fast-paced outpatient OR. She had been researching the use of aromatherapy as an alternative therapy to help patients with pre-op anxiousness and queasiness in PACU.
The Challenge:
Jennifer found that adding oils to cotton balls and then taping them to the patient’s gown was inefficient as the taped cotton would often fall off the patient. There was also the concern of getting oils on either the patient’s or staff member’s skin. Jennifer also looked at some commercially available aromatherapy products, but rejected them for use in the OR as their packaging contained foils and presented a burn risk if cautery is used in the surgery.
The Solution:
In 2012, Jennifer discovered Elequil aromatabs® which were designed specifically for use in the clinical setting. Originally marketed for use in MRI to help anxious patients complete their scans,
Jennifer found Elequil to be the only product ideally suited for use in the OR due to its unique, self –contained and self-adhesive delivery system which does not use any metals or foils in the packaging.
Jennifer liked Elequil’s design. The non-clinical, very patient-friendly artwork made for a quick and easy 30-45 second introduction about aromatherapy between nurse and patient and because Elequil is small and self-contained, it was very easy to store the tabs in the prep room for convenient access to all of her pre-op rooms.
As an added bonus, Elequil could be transferred from the patient’s gown to their clothing once they are discharged and ready to go home.
The Value:
- Jennifer now had a solution that could be offered to everybody in pre-op; patients, staff and even waiting family members.
- Scent options made it easier to help different patient types:
o Patients appearing anxious or who verbalized that they are anxious were offered
lavender-sandalwood for relaxation
o Patients with histories of post-op nausea and vomiting were offered orange-peppermint
to help soothe their queasiness
o Patients who don't appear anxious, or don't have a history of nausea were offered
their choice of scent
- Patients were elated to have the option to choose aromatherapy as part of their care. Jennifer reported that her staff receives a lot of comments about the Elequil in their post-op calls - how much they liked/enjoyed them and how beneficial they thought they were. This positivity was reflected in survey comments from patients as well.
- Helpful support material describing the Elequil aromatabs® and the different scent options that Jennifer put up in the family waiting room helped to further the person-centered care approach that Fairview Southdale was trying to achieve with alternative therapies and integrated nursing.
Customer Testimonial
When asked how she would describe doing business with Beekley Medical, Jennifer replied “Very responsive, very quick to answer questions, and very eager to look at suggestions. Our requests might not necessarily be coming from us, but from patients. If it's a direct request from a patient, then we want to meet their needs. Beekley Medical is very driven to meet patient care needs, very interested in what clients' feedback are to improve products.”
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Mary Lang Pelton
Director of Marketing Communications
