CompassCare must continue to improve because there is too much at stake. CompassCare recently made changes to patient care scripts in order to really get at the heart of the tensions driving a woman to think abortion is her only option. Women are responding well to the probing questions being asked. Here is an example of how improving an approach is saving lives.
Last winter Melanie was concerned she may have contracted a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) and searched the web for free and confidential STD services. She found CompassCare and was elated when she discovered all of her test results were negative. Her experience with CompassCare so impressed Melanie, that when her best friend discovered she might be pregnant, Melanie suggested she call for an appointment. Little did Melanie realize that in just a few weeks, she herself would also face the shock of an unplanned pregnancy.
Because of her relationship with CompassCare, Melanie called right away for an appointment but was disappointed to learn that she would not be able to get the abortion she so desperately believed she needed. “I may as well go to Planned Parenthood I guess. They can take care of everything there, right?” Thankfully, CompassCare’s appointment scheduler was able to clarify the value of the services provided to every patient in her situation, so Melanie made an appointment.
Melanie explained to her nurse why she needed to get an abortion, “It’s just the wrong timing. And my parents would kill me.” Her ultrasound revealed that Melanie was too early in her pregnancy to confirm viability, yet she was visibly shaken by the reality of her pregnancy. Using the new script developed to get at the apparent internal conflict Melanie felt, her nurse asked her, “You seem conflicted, can you tell me why you are feeling this way?” Melanie’s response revealed her primary tension, “Well this will be my third abortion and I just don’t want to be THAT person. Besides, I honestly don’t even believe abortion is right.”
Melanie’s own words declared the truth and when she returned for her follow up appointment a week later she had made the decision to continue her pregnancy. When her nurse asked her what made her change her mind. Melanie replied, “I really felt empowered by our conversations…It didn’t seem impossible anymore.