March 2021
Ashley
Watson
,
RN
4 Center
Aurora Sinai Medical Center
Milwaukee
,
WI
United States
The patient was able to discharge home with the ostomy later that week, and I am confident that Ashley’s care was an integral part of this patient’s successful discharge.
Ashley is a new day-shift nurse who just got off orientation this summer and our unit could not be luckier. Ashley is smart, confident, kind, thoughtful, and curious. She has incredible emotional intelligence and empathy with our patients and communicates clearly; she provides extraordinary care to all her patients, and I was able to witness this care firsthand with a patient who was on our unit for 3 weeks.
This patient was admitted with a bowel obstruction due to a sigmoid tumor that had grown large enough to invade the uterus. The patient was malnourished, easily fatigued, and anxious; her hair was tangled and matter to her head, she would refuse to get out of the bed due to pain, and when she did get up could only tolerate a couple of minutes of activity before feeling syncopal. She was afraid to go far from the bed. This patient had an ostomy created to relieve the bowel obstruction and could not bear to look at the ostomy. Ashley established rapport with the patient so that the patient trusted her and looked forward to seeing her.
The ostomy was difficult to care for and required more appliance changes than usual. Ashley met the challenge head-on, collaborating with the wound care nurses and surgical team to determine the best materials to use. The patient also had nursing students care for her, and Ashley obtained patient permission to bring the students into the room for the ostomy appliance changes. As Ashley talked the students through the process of changing the appliance, the patient’s attitude began to change, and she grew more comfortable with it.
Though the patient’s strength was increasing, she was still hesitant about increasing her activity level. Ashley was the one who was able to convince the patient to begin ambulating in the hall and sitting in the chair for more extended periods of time. One afternoon I went into the patient’s room and found her sitting in the recliner starting to comb out her hair. The patient said that Ashley had insisted she either comb it out herself or let Ashley do it, the patient laughed and said she supposed it was time; staff had been trying to accomplish this for 2 weeks, but it was Ashley who finally convinced the patient. The patient was able to discharge home with the ostomy later that week, and I am confident that Ashley’s care was an integral part of this patient’s successful discharge.
This patient was admitted with a bowel obstruction due to a sigmoid tumor that had grown large enough to invade the uterus. The patient was malnourished, easily fatigued, and anxious; her hair was tangled and matter to her head, she would refuse to get out of the bed due to pain, and when she did get up could only tolerate a couple of minutes of activity before feeling syncopal. She was afraid to go far from the bed. This patient had an ostomy created to relieve the bowel obstruction and could not bear to look at the ostomy. Ashley established rapport with the patient so that the patient trusted her and looked forward to seeing her.
The ostomy was difficult to care for and required more appliance changes than usual. Ashley met the challenge head-on, collaborating with the wound care nurses and surgical team to determine the best materials to use. The patient also had nursing students care for her, and Ashley obtained patient permission to bring the students into the room for the ostomy appliance changes. As Ashley talked the students through the process of changing the appliance, the patient’s attitude began to change, and she grew more comfortable with it.
Though the patient’s strength was increasing, she was still hesitant about increasing her activity level. Ashley was the one who was able to convince the patient to begin ambulating in the hall and sitting in the chair for more extended periods of time. One afternoon I went into the patient’s room and found her sitting in the recliner starting to comb out her hair. The patient said that Ashley had insisted she either comb it out herself or let Ashley do it, the patient laughed and said she supposed it was time; staff had been trying to accomplish this for 2 weeks, but it was Ashley who finally convinced the patient. The patient was able to discharge home with the ostomy later that week, and I am confident that Ashley’s care was an integral part of this patient’s successful discharge.