Amy Corcoran
June 2016
Amy
Corcoran
,
BSN, RN
11K Cardiovascular Intermediate Care
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland
,
OR
United States
Our ANA code of ethics speaks to our nursing duty to not only demonstrate commitment and advocacy to improving the outcomes of our patients but the advancement and contribution to our profession and environments. Amy has demonstrated all of these in this one example, which is why I believe she is deserving of DAISY Award.
In August, Amy and I embarked on the implementation of Rapid Safety Rounds on our unit. A program designed to provide additional resources and support to some of our most vulnerable patients, often those with delirium or cognitive impairment. Rapid Safety Rounds consisted of a group of interdisciplinary professionals: OT, psych, nursing, providers, and pharmacy. In the beginning, I often led Rapid Safety Rounds with our mentors and Amy. Amy was learning the care of these patients, and felt novice in how to improve their outcomes or implement best practice. We both used our cognitive toolkit to identify resources, develop plans for patients, and engage our direct care nurses in helping to progress these patients.
As Amy became more confident in her skills and saw the impact that we were making on improving these patients' outcomes, she began embracing this process as her own. She started independently building her knowledge on delirium and cognitive impairment. She has sought out journal articles and attended talks at conferences, and distributed her learning out to the team. As my own competing priorities began hindering my ability to lead these rounds, Amy stepped right in without prompting and we began a transition where she led and I assisted. She began leading these rounds about 9 months ago, often without my presence, mentoring her team members, and promoting the management of cognitively impaired patients. Further, she leveraged her position as the staff educator to develop an educational session that she provides to all of our new hire RNs on the management of delirious patients.
I heard her speak the other day of her compassion and commitment to these patients and our nurses. She describes it as her "true soft spot" and she feels so strongly about the role nursing has in contributing to improved patient outcomes. She assesses unit risk any time she is working and when she hears someone that may be declining and/or interventions such as restraints are being considered, she actively seeks out the opportunity to intervene and offer alternatives and best practice options. Her commitment to this vulnerable population, the health of the patients on our unit, and the improved competency of her fellow nurses demonstrate a nurse who is a role model to others in the professional role of a nurse.
In August, Amy and I embarked on the implementation of Rapid Safety Rounds on our unit. A program designed to provide additional resources and support to some of our most vulnerable patients, often those with delirium or cognitive impairment. Rapid Safety Rounds consisted of a group of interdisciplinary professionals: OT, psych, nursing, providers, and pharmacy. In the beginning, I often led Rapid Safety Rounds with our mentors and Amy. Amy was learning the care of these patients, and felt novice in how to improve their outcomes or implement best practice. We both used our cognitive toolkit to identify resources, develop plans for patients, and engage our direct care nurses in helping to progress these patients.
As Amy became more confident in her skills and saw the impact that we were making on improving these patients' outcomes, she began embracing this process as her own. She started independently building her knowledge on delirium and cognitive impairment. She has sought out journal articles and attended talks at conferences, and distributed her learning out to the team. As my own competing priorities began hindering my ability to lead these rounds, Amy stepped right in without prompting and we began a transition where she led and I assisted. She began leading these rounds about 9 months ago, often without my presence, mentoring her team members, and promoting the management of cognitively impaired patients. Further, she leveraged her position as the staff educator to develop an educational session that she provides to all of our new hire RNs on the management of delirious patients.
I heard her speak the other day of her compassion and commitment to these patients and our nurses. She describes it as her "true soft spot" and she feels so strongly about the role nursing has in contributing to improved patient outcomes. She assesses unit risk any time she is working and when she hears someone that may be declining and/or interventions such as restraints are being considered, she actively seeks out the opportunity to intervene and offer alternatives and best practice options. Her commitment to this vulnerable population, the health of the patients on our unit, and the improved competency of her fellow nurses demonstrate a nurse who is a role model to others in the professional role of a nurse.