Khaldoun Al Shorman

A post BMT patient was admitted to E3 on 25 January 2011, with Graft vs Host Disease (GVHD) Grade IV of the skin.  This is a severe complication of BMT.  The plastic surgeon said this was equivalent to 90% body surface burns.  ICU admission was recommended but the patient was nursed on the unit.

Daily dressings were ordered for the patient, covering the whole body.  This was a complicated and lengthy procedure, and very distressing for the patient. 

Khaldoun looked after this patient every shift including overtime for 12 days in a row.  The patient was designated 1:1 nursing because of the complexity of his care, but this was not always possible due to the staff shortage, on many days Khaldoun had to manage a full load of patients including this man, and never once did he complain or ask to have his assignment changed.

Khaldoun showed great skills in the dressing care, considering this was not a specialty for him, and a rare occurrence on E3.  On average it took him 3 hours to do a complete dressing.  He did not have to look after the patient every day, but he preferred to as he got familiar with the care involved and thought it would be difficult  for the patient and the unit staff, if the allocation was changed every few days.

Khaldoun is an excellent nurse, and shows great compassion in his care, not only with this patient in particular but all his patients, and his colleagues.  But he took it upon himself to manage the care of this patient, in the patient’s best interests, as you can imagine this was a very difficult experience for the patient and family and Khaldoun established an excellent relationship with them.

Khaldoun is much valued and liked member of the E3 team, he has a wonderful sense of humor, which is appreciated by all in a sometimes difficult and stressful working environment.  He is very caring not only to his patients but colleagues; nothing is a too much trouble for him.

The patient recovered and was discharged on the 14 March 2011, with his skin condition much improved, and Khaldoun can take a lot of the credit for this success.

For these reasons I would like to nominate my colleague Khaldoun Al Shorman as a deserving recipient of The DAISY Award.