KPKinteractive's video: Sickle Cell Patients in Atlanta Get Pain Relief Compassionate Care at DeKalb Medical Hillandale

DeKalb Medical Hillandale has a new protocol to better treat the pain and other symptoms of adult sickle cell patients that was modeled after programs at Duke University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The CDC estimates that Sickle Cell Disease affects 90,000 to 100,000 Americans and occurs among about one in 12 African-Americans. Many in the DeKalb Medical Hillandale community in metro-Atlanta know someone who has been directly affected by Sickle Cell Disease. Sickle Cell Disease is a blood disorder in which the normally round red blood cells that carry oxygen to all the parts of the body become C-shaped, like the farm tool called a sickle. That sickle shape causes the cells to clog blood flow, resulting in a shortage of red blood cells. This shortage can cause serious complications such as infection and stroke, with the most common being severe pain. Due to internal and external concerns that the hospital wasn’t adequately treating its adult Sickle Cell patients, DeKalb Medical Hillandale created a Performance Improvement Team to study and develop a new protocol for treating these patients. They researched best practices and gathered information from nurse educators, physicians, patients and existing programs at Duke University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Because patients in Sickle Cell crisis can often be mistakenly labeled as drug seeking, the protocol’s primary goal was to help care providers understand that a higher dose of pain medication is usually needed to relieve their acute pain. In addition to pain management, the protocol also addresses therapeutic measures including hydration, heat treatments and general comfort. Since implementing and fully executing the protocol, care providers and patients alike are very satisfied with the care provided to adult Sickle Cell patients at DeKalb Medical Hillandale. Music by Kevin MacLeod