Ashley Wattenbarger works on the 3rd floor of Dodd Hall on evening shift. Ashley has worked at Dodd Hall for 14 years. Dodd Hall specializes in rehabilitation, and the patients we care for require rehabilitation after an accident, illness, or injury. At Dodd Hall, a patient can expect to stay for weeks or months depending on their rehabilitation and therapy needs. A patient is expected to attend intense physical, occupational, and speech therapy for a minimum of 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. Often, once admitted to Dodd Hall for rehab, a patient and family member must face the reality and the challenge of adapting to a new impairment or disability. Our rehabilitation nurses take extra time during their shift to educate the patients and family members about how to adapt with a new impairment or disability. They also encourage participation in therapy and help to instill confidence when it comes time to re-enter into the community.
Ashley's patients and coworkers appreciate her compassion, kindness, thoughtfulness, and positive attitude, which is greatly valued in the rehab setting. Ashley goes above and beyond to provide personalized care for her patients. Ashley shares kind words and warm conversations with her patients, helping them feel less lonely in their rooms. Ashley also makes it her personal mission to keep her patient's skin in the best condition possible. Ashley is well known for her famous foot and hand massages with lotion that she offers to all of her patients, especially those who are in pain or stressed after a long day in therapy. She takes time to make each patient feel important and loved. Ashley inspires her fellow nurses with her compassion, hard work ethic, and gentle demeanor.
Ashley enters her patients' rooms every day with a smile and a cheerful attitude. She greets each of the patients and asks what she can do to make the patient's stay more comfortable. Ashley is also famous for her cleaning and organizing skills. With all of her patients, the first thing Ashley does is clean and wipe down all surfaces, replace linens and start laundry if needed. She then helps the patient organize their rooms. Ashley also finds time in her busy day to sit down next to her patients' bedsides and talk to them like old friends. This might be the most important thing that Ashley does for her patients. Hospitals can be a lonely place, especially for a patient with a serious illness or a devastating injury or disability.
One patient described how Ashley helped him cope with new disabilities and overcome depression after his injury. This patient was in a serious car accident and injured his spinal cord. This patient was severely injured, and although he survived the car accident, he still suffered with paralysis of the legs that also negatively affected his bowel and bladder control. This patient woke up from a coma a week after his car accident only to discover that he was now paralyzed from the waist down and could not use the bathroom independently.
This patient was very depressed as he was previously independent and never relied on anyone for help. He wanted nothing to do with a hospital or rehab and told his wife that he just wanted to go home and die. Once he came to Dodd Hall, however, he met Ashley who almost always was assigned to this patient during the evening shift.
This patient described how touching and life-changing it was to have Ashley take care of him. Ashley would walk in and greet him with a smile while tidying up his room and asking what his needs were for the day. After the day's needs were met, Ashley would simply pull up a chair and talk with him like a long lost friend. This patient said that without Ashley's kindness, he wouldn't be where he is today. This patient was depressed and scared, but Ashley instilled faith and hope in him. Ashley encouraged him to focus on learning new skills with therapy and nursing to become stronger and more independent every day.
Ashley understood his needs and made sure she was there to uplift his spirits and make him feel special. According to this patient, Ashley gave him a reason to push through the grueling daily therapy sessions to achieve his rehab goals. Her positive attitude and kindness not only served as a pleasant distraction from his negative thoughts, but it also helped heal the patient's defeated and lonely heart so that he could focus on therapy and improve his strength day by day. Even though therapy was hard work, Ashley always encouraged him to do his best by just focusing on one day at a time.
Ashley was also very close to this patient's wife who often visited during the evenings. Having a close relationship with both the patient and the wife, Ashley could coordinate his care, provide education about his new disabilities, and discover how to improve his care.
The patient and his wife were both so touched by Ashley and her kindness towards them during this difficult time in their lives. Without Ashley's presence, it is likely that the patient would have suffered from depression and would not have had the courage or the energy to complete his therapy or to progress as much as he did. Both the patient and his wife are forever grateful that Ashley was their nurse. Ashley gave this patient and his wife confidence, hope and courage to overcome this disability, and the strength to go on. Ashley's encouragement and kind words changed the patient's outlook about his disability which gave him hope and confidence that he will live a wonderful and fulfilling life with his loved ones, regardless of any impairment or disability.