Orange County RN ‘Lives Large’
Anne Federwisch
Monday May 19, 2008
Lorraine Foran, RN, CBN, wears the obesity suit to try to
experience what it’s like at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center for a person of size, including working with a coach using the lift equipment.
(Orange County Register)
Some days, even her co-workers don’t recognize Lorraine Foran, RN, CBN. That doesn’t bother the certified bariatric nurse at MemorialCare Center for Obesity at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Calif. In fact, it’s part of her plan.Each year, Foran dons a foam suit that makes her look like she weighs 300 pounds. “It imparts a very realistic look,” she says. With a hat on her head and the suit on under an outfit, she is virtually unrecognizable.Once disguised, Foran “walks in my patients’ shoes,” as she likes to say. “I do this very anonymously. It’s a random time. I walk the campus. I go into the lobby. I go into the elevator. I go into the cafeteria,” she says. As she travels the paths of potential patients throughout the facility, she gauges people’s reactions. “I want to see what kind of a reaction I get. I want to see the difference in how I’m treated.”She’s not just satisfying her curiosity. The walkabouts were initiated about six years ago. Foran uses them now to gather information firsthand for training staff at the facility on providing more “size-sensitive” care. “We realized that we not only have to teach nurses [and other staff] the complications of bariatric surgery, or the clinical part of it; we have to teach them the emotional part,” she says. “I translate to them [staff] what it feels like [to be obese]. Whether it’s that no one makes eye contact, or when I get into an elevator, people shy away or retreat to the other side. Or in the cafeteria, people are anxious to see what I’m eating,” she says.By incorporating her findings into her sensitivity training, she is able to let the staff know how they may be conveying negative attitudes unintentionally. “A lot of it is just people are unaware of how much a certain look or a certain word translates to how that patient feels in the hospital,” she says.And making patients comfortable during their care can be critical to their recovery. “We know for a fact that a lot of patients are reluctant to get medical attention because they don’t want to be judged by the physician, by the caregiver, by whomever they encounter,” she says.The hospital has made great strides toward size-sensitive care, including size-appropriate seats throughout the facility, accommodating doorways, appropriately-sized gowns, walk-in showers, bariatric wheelchairs and blood pressure cuffs, and appropriate lifting equipment.But all the specialized equipment in the world won’t compensate for a rude look or a snide remark. So Foran helps validate caregivers’ patient skills annually. They emphasize establishing eye contact, honoring the patient, using positive wording, and being sensitive to their unique needs. And patients have noted the welcoming feeling at the facility — that size-sensitive care is not just an afterthought.Foran stresses that “obesity is not a choice. It’s a disease, just like diabetes and chronic lung disease. It’s a complex dynamic of metabolic disorders and emotional disorders.”Prejudice against people of size is pervasive in society, but Foran and others at the MemorialCare Center for Obesity are working to make sure it is not prevalent at their facility. With their efforts, Foran says, “I think we will promote a culture of sensitivity that will translate into better health care and patients having a good hospital experience.”Plans are in the works to let others do walkabouts wearing the suit to help them understand the discrimination against larger people. Foran recommends that other organizations also address size sensitivity, whether or not they don obesity suits.
Anne Federwisch is a freelance writer. To comment, e-mail editorCA@nurseweek.com.
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