Town nurse keeps her finger on the pulse of Lincolnites’ health

Public health nurse Tricia McGean in Bemis Hall.

Tricia McGean, R.N., has been in her Lincoln home for years, but now she’s getting into other residents’ homes as the town’s new public health nurse.

In this new part-time position, McGean wears many hats. A big part of the job is making home health visits to seniors as well as doing one-on-one consultations in Bemis Hall. She’ll also serve as a liaison with Elder Services and Lincoln emergency personnel in cases where a resident may be suffering abuse or neglect.

When a family member or Council on Aging staff member believes a Lincoln senior needs a home health visit, in steps McGean, who has done this sort of thing for more than 20 years as a home care nurse for Emerson Hospital Home Care (a role she will continue on a part-time basis).

“I’m very comfortable going into someone’s house, assessing their safety needs and their mental and physical status,” she said. “Often it’s people that are having falls or just not quite making it themselves any more and needing some support. I can call providers and patients, see how they’re doing, answer questions and just kind of close the loop. All the people I’ve seen have been very appreciative and happy about this new position.”

Many Lincoln seniors are already familiar with McGean, who for several years has supervised monthly blood pressure clinics and wellness clinics for all ages at Lincoln Woods. At both clinics, she’s answered questions about medications, offer caregiver support, provide nutritional counseling and obtain mental health support.

“The clinics have given me the opportunity to meet many Lincolnites and establish numerous personal and professional relationships, but they’ve also opened my eyes to the growing need of residents in Lincoln who may not be able to obtain the care they need,” she said. “From my five years on the COA board, I became acutely aware of the unmet physical and mental needs of our residents.”

Also on McGean’s plate is doing follow-up investigative work in Lincoln for the state Department of Public Health on issues such as contagious diseases and tick- and food-borne illnesses in conjunction with the town’s Board of Health (work she already does for Concord, Carlisle, and Maynard). In that role, she succeeds the recently retired Maureen Richichi, who was also the Lincoln School nurse.

McGean and her husband Geoff, executive director of the Rural Land Foundation and Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, have lived in Lincoln for 25 years. With her expanded health role in town, she revived the flu-shot clinic for seniors in October and will lead educational sessions for seniors on topics such as dementia and foot care. She also hopes to start “memory cafe” sessions for residents of The Commons early next year.

“This position has just been my dream,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to be the town nurse, and it sort of fell into my lap, and I couldn’t be more happy.”