Case Study: Water’s Edge Rehab & Nursing Center at Port Jefferson (April 2019)

Patient’s Name: Dorianne Deto
Patient’s Age: 63-years-old
Admission Date: 03/01/2019
Discharge Date: 04/04/2019
Discharged To: Home
Length of Stay: 35 days
Reason for Stay: Patient experienced a fall causing many fractures throughout her body.
How did this patient hear about Water’s Edge at Port Jefferson Rehabilitation & Nursing Center?: Stony Brook Hospital.


Details of Experience:
Ms. Dorianne Deto arrived at the Water’s Edge Rehab and Nursing Center on March 1, 2019, from Stony Brook Hospital. Ms. Deto experienced a fall in her home, which led to a number of fractures throughout her body. After spending some time in the hospital, Dorianne was on the search for a skilled nursing facility to help her get stronger so she can safely return home.

After careful consideration, Ms. Deto chose our community because of a wonderful recommendation from the hospital. On the evening of March 1st, Dorianne arrived at our community and was greeted by a number of members from our interdisciplinary team. She was brought to her room, where she was able to make her needs known to each of our team members and also, get some rest! Ms. Dorianne had goals. She was eager to go from needing assistance with most daily functions to being able to independently live, as she always has. Who better for the job than our very own team of therapists?

At first, Ms. Deto experienced a hard time adjusting to our community. After a few days, we found that Ms. Deto was spending the majority of her time in her room. Curious as to why, our concierge, Rachel, made it a point to give a little extra TLC to our new patient. Following a much-needed conversation, Rachel was able to discover that as well as being in extreme discomfort most hours, Dorianne also suffers from anxiety. Ms. Deto would attempt to leave her room, but got overwhelmed and wanted to return almost immediately, even during her time at physical therapy.

Team Water’s Edge got together to come up with a new plan for Ms. Deto, that would help her succeed and reach her goals! Our therapists, Kathy and Rob, took the time to meet with Dorianne and provide treatment in her room while attempting many different methods to help her stay comfortable. While our concierge took her for strolls around the community

to ensure she could go back to her room at any time, recreation provided Ms. Deto with many means of independent leisure. Ms. Deto showed appreciation in what our team was doing to help her meet her physical goals, as well as respect her needs.

Within her first week, Ms. Deto found what she called her “sweet spot.” This was the way she was able to sit or lay in for a period of time to stay comfortable. She raved about it! Within the next week of her stay at the Water’s Edge, Dorianne was getting used to our team and was able to spend more time in physical therapy and recreational activities than she did that first week.

Ms. Deto was eager to meet her goal to safely perform life tasks independently. She worked hard every day, no matter where she was working. Our team at the Water’s Edge used many different techniques to help Dorianne get where she needed to be. When she was having a hard time going from sitting to standing, our therapists used techniques such as; resistance exercises, therabands, ankle pumps, dynamic sitting balance training, static standing balance training, and gait training. When she was having a hard time performing daily life functions, our therapists used techniques such as; energy conservation, positioning maneuvers, proper body mechanics, safe transfer techniques and use of assistive devices. Within 35 days of working with our team, Ms. Deto went from needing 50% assistance with nearly everything, to independently being able to complete daily life functions; she started off walking 20 feet with assistance to walking 200 feet with just supervision.

Aside from her extraordinary success in therapy, Ms. Dorianne Deto also conquered her anxiety and was able to spend the majority of her time outside of her room prior to leaving. Ms. Deto made friends, spent time in activities and even ate her meals in the dining room with her friends.

As her discharge date quickly arrived, Ms. Deto was more than thrilled to go home. She stated, “I had the opportunity to make new friends, have a great roommate and work with the best physical therapists ever. All of my nurses and aids were wonderful. I am so happy to be going home, but I have to say – it wasn’t a bad experience.” Team Water’s Edge is so thrilled for Dorianne; we wish her the best in all her future adventures!