Becky has been the nurse coordinator for the Orthopedic Resident Clinic for a number of years. This clinic focuses specifically on the needs of many of our unfunded/uninsured patients who require orthopedic services. Because these patients are often reliant upon donated or "charitable" payment sources, the coordination of their care can be quite time-consuming and complicated. It is often difficult when dealing with multiple care sites and physicians who are being asked to donate their time and services. Becky is masterful at coordinating this care which is why she's been in this position for as long as she has. She has developed strong, collaborative relationships with the many surgeons who have graduated from the residency program over the years and are now in private practices of their own. They know Becky to be a compassionate and caring nurse who cares about the needs of her patients. I frequently hear from them that they've learned how to listen and care for patients by watching the way Becky treats her patients.
However, the following call that I received from a patient, demonstrates how Becky displays the Wesley mission and values of "Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life". An orthopedic patient recently sought service in our clinic for a shoulder injury. She required scheduling of multiple services including MRI, x-ray, splinting, and surgical intervention, as well as a number of office visits. In addition to this injury, this patient was also trying to deal with many legal issues surrounding the event that brought her to our clinic. This required that documentation and communication also needed to go back and forth to her lawyers, who were also working on either a charitable or donated service basis.
The patient contacted me to tell me how much she appreciated being treated with dignity by Becky. She said that she knew how her case looked from the outside-"that she didn't have any resources" and was relying on others to help her, most of which she was going to be unable to pay for. She stated, "you can tell just by some people's voice when they really care about you and I could tell that Becky truly cared for me". She said that to use the adage of going "above and beyond" wouldn't be an understatement to describe the care she received from Becky. She stated that Becky did so much more than just see her in our clinic. She sought letters of medical necessity from a number of providers, helped her to navigate the medical records system when she needed to get her personal health records to her lawyers, she called her weekly or even daily to let her know the status of testing and procedure appointments.
The patient had said she knows about our AIDET model and that Becky displays that in every interaction she has had with her. She said that when Becky says she will call you back she always does, even if she doesn't have any new information. Becky will just contact you to let you know that she hasn't forgotten about you and that he is still working on it. The patient had said that Becky is always kind and patient and calls her "a wonderful sweetheart". She states that she can tell that Becky truly must love what she does and that "this is not just a job to her".
I want to point out that Becky does the job of coordinating our Ortho residency program in addition to all her other duties in our clinic. She is one of our pediatric triage nurses, taking calls daily from parents to try to help them with their sick kiddos - either to give them advice on how they can care for them at home or to help get them scheduled with a pediatrician to be seen. Over the years, Becky has developed a calm and soothing manner with our new parents. I am truly grateful and lucky to have Becky on my team!