Instilling Confidence through Education and Expertise
In her role as transition support case manager, Kathleen Levenson, RN, CRRN, guides, educates, and advocates for patients.
What is your role at Shepherd Center?
I'm a transition support case manager. We provide education, guidance, support to the families and patients who need extra help after discharge.
The goal is to support positive outcomes, decrease the chances of ER visits and readmissions to the hospital, and help patients regain their independence and feel more confident about their overall care and everything they learned while they were at Shepherd.
What made you want to work at Shepherd?
When I was a nursing student, we did rotations at Shepherd, and I remember this place really stood out to me. The culture was like no other. It had such a family feel. You would see staff going out of their way to do things for the families, the patients, and for me, a student at the time.
What do you find most rewarding about your job?
I love my role because you really get to dig in and meet the families, caregivers, and patients where they are. Each patient’s situation is unique depending on the injury, how much support they have, and where they reside. The discharge process can be overwhelming, and it's nice to be that lifeline for them while they're trying to get into the swing of things and reacclimate into the community setting. It's rewarding to help guide patients and family members and be a point of contact where they can truly open up and trust our expertise.
How do you think your role impacts patients and family members?
When patients are in the hospital, if something goes sideways, the families, the caregivers, and the patients themselves feel like, ‘OK, there are plenty of folks here if we need something. We have all the support that we need. We have all the equipment we need. If anything goes wrong, it's just hitting the call light and staff will come.’ But after discharge, it can be really anxiety-provoking for the families or the patients themselves. And seeing the transformation from the very first call to when we discharge services from transition support is really fun. You can hear the confidence. It's empowering for them to know, ‘OK, I think we can do this, and I love being home. I have my true life, my friends, my family, the extension of who I am, what I've been doing beforehand.’ Hearing the joy and the experiences that they're starting to have again is a big deal. It's really rewarding.
What was one of your best days at work?
One of the best days was when a previous patient came back to see me and to share some amazing news — that he was getting married, and he wanted me to attend his wedding. I thought that was really neat because he went through a really tough time when he felt like things weren't going to get better for him. So, seeing him get to experience that joy and know that he was going to continue to live his life to the fullest — that was a really cool day.
Education
BS Nursing, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Fun Facts
Kathleen is from Miami, Florida, but has lived in Georgia most of her life.
She met her wife at Shepherd!
She’s always been involved in sports, and soccer is her passion.
Lionel Messi is her favorite soccer player.
With five decades of experience, Shepherd Center provides world-class clinical care, research, and family support for people experiencing the most complex conditions, including spinal cord and brain injuries, multi-trauma, traumatic amputations, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and pain. An elite center ranked by U.S. News as one of the nation’s top hospitals for rehabilitation, Shepherd Center is also recognized as both Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems. Shepherd Center treats thousands of patients annually with unmatched expertise and unwavering compassion to help them begin again.