Ann Crawford
November 2025
Ann
Crawford
,
RN
4 South
Eisenhower Health
Rancho Mirage
,
CA
United States
I would like to tell you about Ann, RN on 4 South, and what she did for my patient and for me. I had a patient who was homeless, had insurance through the VA, and was supposed to be discharged that day. The patient's meds were to be delivered to the bedside to ensure that he had his prescriptions in hand at the time of discharge. There are two pharmacies that provide this service for EMC. Both noted that the patient would have to pay about $1800.00 out of pocket for the prescriptions. This took the better part of the day as the prescriptions were submitted first to one and then the other after the first pharmacy's response to the out-of-pocket payment amount.
The patient was made aware of the situation and requested hard copies of the prescriptions so that he could bring them to the VA pharmacy in Loma Linda upon his discharge. I notified the Attending via phone of the out-of-pocket cost and the patient's request for hard copies of the prescriptions. The Attending stated that he wouldn't be returning to the hospital until the next morning.
I had just gone into an isolation room where I planned on starting TPN, IV antibiotics, completing a blood sugar check, etc., when the attending called me to ask if I would check with the patient about the name of the VA pharmacy and add it as his preferred pharmacy. I went to the door and was looking for the charge RN to ask if they could help with this, as I was already in the isolation room. Ann, who was not the charge RN that day, saw me looking for help and came over immediately and asked if I needed something. I explained the situation and asked if she could kindly get the information from the patient. I returned to my patient in the isolation room. Once all tasks were completed and the patients' needs were met, I left the isolation room and went to another patient's room to follow up on the VA pharmacy.
Ann was still in the room with the patient. She had found the website for the VA Hospital in Loma Linda with their contact information, but there was no VA Pharmacy address listed. She had tried using the hospital address, but there was no matching address in the preferred pharmacy list. She was calling another pharmacy to see if they took VA insurance and if the prescriptions would be covered. She gave me the number to another pharmacy so I could do the same. It turned out that, per those pharmacies, the VA doesn't always cover all of the ordered prescriptions.
We called the VA Pharmacy Helpline and, with the patient's cooperation, were able to get the fax number where the prescriptions needed to be sent, which prescriptions would and would not be covered automatically, along with instructions for the patient to call the pharmacy helpline number the next day so they could help facilitate coverage of the prescriptions with the outpatient pharmacy that were not automatically covered. By this point, Ann had been in the patient room for about 45-60 minutes.
Ann took care of my patient as if he were her patient. She took the time to ensure that he had exactly what he needed in order to get his prescriptions and receive help from the VA in doing so. Ann is not just an exceptional nurse; she is also an exceptional co-worker. This is why I feel she merits recognition for who she is and what she does.
The patient was made aware of the situation and requested hard copies of the prescriptions so that he could bring them to the VA pharmacy in Loma Linda upon his discharge. I notified the Attending via phone of the out-of-pocket cost and the patient's request for hard copies of the prescriptions. The Attending stated that he wouldn't be returning to the hospital until the next morning.
I had just gone into an isolation room where I planned on starting TPN, IV antibiotics, completing a blood sugar check, etc., when the attending called me to ask if I would check with the patient about the name of the VA pharmacy and add it as his preferred pharmacy. I went to the door and was looking for the charge RN to ask if they could help with this, as I was already in the isolation room. Ann, who was not the charge RN that day, saw me looking for help and came over immediately and asked if I needed something. I explained the situation and asked if she could kindly get the information from the patient. I returned to my patient in the isolation room. Once all tasks were completed and the patients' needs were met, I left the isolation room and went to another patient's room to follow up on the VA pharmacy.
Ann was still in the room with the patient. She had found the website for the VA Hospital in Loma Linda with their contact information, but there was no VA Pharmacy address listed. She had tried using the hospital address, but there was no matching address in the preferred pharmacy list. She was calling another pharmacy to see if they took VA insurance and if the prescriptions would be covered. She gave me the number to another pharmacy so I could do the same. It turned out that, per those pharmacies, the VA doesn't always cover all of the ordered prescriptions.
We called the VA Pharmacy Helpline and, with the patient's cooperation, were able to get the fax number where the prescriptions needed to be sent, which prescriptions would and would not be covered automatically, along with instructions for the patient to call the pharmacy helpline number the next day so they could help facilitate coverage of the prescriptions with the outpatient pharmacy that were not automatically covered. By this point, Ann had been in the patient room for about 45-60 minutes.
Ann took care of my patient as if he were her patient. She took the time to ensure that he had exactly what he needed in order to get his prescriptions and receive help from the VA in doing so. Ann is not just an exceptional nurse; she is also an exceptional co-worker. This is why I feel she merits recognition for who she is and what she does.