I wanted to take a few minutes and bring your attention to some outstanding nursing from Ms. Asmeret Habtemariam. I specifically worked with her on 7W this weekend and I was very impressed with her professionalism, level of empathy and knowledge, and the amount of support that she provided while I completed my consult.
As we are all aware, medically managing patients with COVID-19 is difficult and requires the right balance between providing excellent clinical support and maintaining personal health and well-being. Ms. Habtemariam exhibited that balance this weekend and I think it is important that Sparrow Hospital identify staff who exhibit some tendencies.
In my capacity as a neuropsychologist, I have the opportunity to interact with thousands of patients and staff each year at Sparrow Hospital. I would rate my interaction with Ms. Habtemariam in the first percentile of those interactions. What particularly impressed me about Ms. Habetemariam was the amount of time that she took to ensure that I was safely prepared to evaluate a patient with COVID-19. This included helping me prepare to enter the room, managing the environment while completing the evaluation, and assisting as I safely disengaged from the evaluation. After the evaluation, she also took additional time to help me manage my PPE and even brought me a small bag for my cell phone as I was about to disembark the floor. She did all of this while attending to the clinical needs of the patient and managing other clinical duties on the floor.
I have never worked with Ms. Habtemariam before, but I would be pleased to share cases with her in the future. Her level of professionalism and patient knowledge was outstanding, and Sparrow Hospital is lucky to have such dedicated staff. I hope that Sparrow Hospital can take a moment to recognize such excellence, particularly in the face of these uncertain times.