Posing with We Care Bags are Sara Cohen MSN, RN, RNC-NIC, NPD-BC, WTA; Angela Ross, MSN, RN, OCN; and Melissa Ohlson, BSN, RN
The card at the top of the drawstring bag, decorated with the phrase “You are so loved,” moved the patient to tears. The patient, a person experiencing substance use disorder (SUD), was surprised to receive the bag of small gifts on admittance to Pennsylvania Hospital (PAH).
These We Care Bags, supported by a Penn Medicine CAREs grant, are filled with items to promote health and mindfulness for patients admitted for SUD. The Penn Medicine CAREs program provides funding for staff and their community initiatives across the regions Penn Medicine serves, including both regional and international efforts.
The We Care Bags program was developed by PAH’s Medical-Surgical unit, in response to the rise of patients being admitted for SUD in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff found that many had housing and job insecurity and little social support. “Some patients may own very little, or have been given very little. They’ve shared that the bags are such a nice gesture,” said Sara Cohen MSN, RN, manager of Solutions for Women, who was formerly an educator for the unit.
Cohen and nurse manager Angela Ross, MSN, RN, OCN, equip the bags with a basic first-aid kit, socks, a journal, and coloring pages, along with seasonal items, such as gloves and hats in the winter and sunscreen in the summer. Staff also include handwritten cards, each one displaying a cheerful design or phrase and inscribed with a positive message: “We hope you feel better soon,” or “We’re happy you chose our floor to stay on.” The bags additionally include a flyer with helplines to call if a patient is in need of medical assistance after discharge. “Even when the patients are discharged, we want them to have this bag to serve as a reminder that we care about them and we want them to feel better,” said Cohen.
Since the program’s launch in 2020, more than 70 bags have been distributed to patients. Along with funding from the CAREs grant, staff have also donated items to support the project. The team hopes to expand the bags in the future by offering more items for patients and distributing them to other units throughout the hospital. Ross said, “It’s a small gift, but it makes a big difference for patients.”