Nurses specialize in spines

Nurses at Midwest Spine Care give hope to patients who suffer from neck or back pain.

Midwest Spine Care is part of the HCA Midwest system. There are Midwest Spine Care centers at Centerpoint, Menorah, Overland Park Regional and Research medical centers.

The spine care center at Menorah opened in January 2008.

“It’s been a growing clinic,” nurse Verna Morris, RN, BSN, said. “Things are always changing.”

Morris worked in pain management for 12 years before she joined Midwest Spine Care.

“When I heard about spine care I was drawn to it,” she said.

As a nurse in the clinic, Morris conducts patient assessments before the physicians see each patient.

“Afterward the doctor will decide what the patient needs,” Morris said. “We are with patients Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and we go to different locations.”

Midwest Spine Care provides patients with a multi-specialty team that includes board-certified neurosurgeons, board-certified orthopaedists, pain management specialists, and physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists. They see patients with a variety of back and neck injuries.

“There are lots of people who have back pain at some point,” Morris said. “It could be acute, chronic or someone who wants a second opinion.”

Morris said she enjoys her work at Midwest Spine Care.

“I just love it because it’s different all the time,” Morris said. “I like helping (patients) go in the right directions.”

Nurses at Midwest Spine Care are referred to as nurse navigators.

“I was drawn to the term ‘nurse navigator,’” nurse Linda Kurtz, RN, BSN, CCRN, said. “I like having a little more time to work with the patients.”

Kurtz has a background in rehab and worked with spinal cord patients. She said the variety of nursing background enhances the care at the spine center.

“We can draw from each others’ backgrounds,” she said.

Midwest Spine Care provides options for patients who may consider their condition beyond medical help.

“A lot of people with back pain don’t know what to do,” Morris said.

Most of the patients at Midwest Spine Care are not long term.

“We really see all different kinds of patients,” Kurtz said. “Our goal is to get them back working with their primary physician... . Most of the time we are trying to prevent surgery.”

Kurtz and Morris recommend spine care to nurses who are open to learning new things.

“You get to work with the doctor and the patients closely,” Kurtz said.

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