News Releases

October 2008

"Good-bye and Hello"

GOOD-BYE—After 11 years at Mount Desert Nursing Association, first as a part-time Registered Nurse/Community Health Nurse providing visits and nursing care to residents of Mount Desert, and later assuming the position of full-time Community Health Nurse and Nurse Director of the Association, the Board of Directors of the Nursing Association has regretfully accepted the resignation and retirement of Dianne McMullan. Dianne’s expert nursing care and the caring she offered her patients, her many contributions to the Mount Desert Nursing Association, and her generous giving of herself and her time to many health-oriented and non-profit organizations on Mount Desert Island, will be long remembered.

 

A few of Dianne's comments as she said good-bye: "In the words of Lillian Wald, founder of the Visiting Nurse Service (in the United States) 'Nursing is love in action, and there is no finer manifestation of it than the care of the aged and disabled in their own homes.' Thank you to the Board of Directors and the Town of Mt. Desert for the honor of serving as your " 'town nurse'."

 

HELLO—The Mount Desert Nursing Association has added two new registered nurses to its staff. Theo Hinckley brings her fine skills and varied experiences as a registered nurse to the Association, and joins Emma Lansing, who has been an excellent regististered nurse with the Association for over four years. Both are experienced community health nurses and both will be responsible for providing direct care in home visits. Both Emma and Theo work full-time, which allows the Association to provide more hours of patient care, and to accept additional patient referrals.

 

Another new face at the Mount Desert Nursing Association is Anne Napier, also a registered nurse, who has accepted the newly created position of Executive Nurse Director. Anne is responsible for administration of services, over-sight of care, fund-raising and community outreach. Anne, Theo and Emma join Patti Billings, the Adminstrative Assistant, whose pleasant voice you hear when you call the office, and several other talented RNs, who fill in when needed, to provide care to Mount Desert residents.

 

Although the Visiting Nurse model has been in existence for over a hundred years, and community health nursing has evolved and grown in numbers, Mount Desert Nursing Association is unique in being autonomous and non-profit, with a focus on patients and the community, rather than being driven primarily by the bottom line. The guiding philosophy of the Nursing Association is that caring for the patient, their families, and the community is their top priority. Fees are on a sliding scale, and no patient is denied services based on financial constraints. The Town of Mont Desert contributes some funding annually to the Nursing Association, but almost the entire financial support for the work of the Association comes from the thoughtfulness, caring and generosity of Mt. Desert residents and businesses whose donations and contributions support the visits by registered nurses to their friends, neighbors and family members.

 

In addition to providing nursing services for all ages; from visits to newborns and new moms through the entire age spectrum to caring for, and helping maintain the independence of our more elderly and vulnerable seniors, the Mount Desert Nursing Association has a Loan Closet of durable medical equipment, i.e. canes, crutches, commodes, bath seats, raised toilet seats, to name a few items. These are available for loan to persons needing such equipment.

 

For more information about Nursing Association services available to residents of Mount Desert, or to make a self referral or referral of a family member or friend, please call 207-276-5184.

 

Contributions in honor of Dianne McMullan may be sent in care of: Mount Desert Nursing Association, P.O. Box 397, Mount Desert, ME 04662. The Mount Desert Nursing Association is a non-profit corporation, and donations and contributions are tax-deductible.