Brenda connects with patients in a special way. I think it is the mothering instinct in her, but it could be that she just cares so deeply for patients and respects her position as a nurse. Brenda works in Brodhead as our phone nurse and on days when I have covered phones for her, I have had patients call in asking for their nurse, meaning Brenda. They call her by name and they know that she will go above and beyond for them. Let me give just a few examples of this. I had a patient who came in seeing one of our providers and I was rooming her and she just started telling me about how much she loves the Monroe clinic and how her nurse came over and helped her one night put a bandage on because she couldn't do it herself. When I asked who it was, she said it was Brenda and that she lived right across the street and the patient knew that if she called, Brenda would come over and help and she did.
There is another patient who calls her his nurse. Brenda knew he was having trouble with his medications so she went over to his home and helped the patient organize all of his medications, so he knew what he was taking. She got rid of older medications, answered his questions and got everything set up in pill boxes for him. Anytime he comes in, he usually asks where his nurse is.
I know that Brenda has delivered printed scripts to the pharmacy for patients who have a hard time getting in or who can't get into the clinic in time. This has changed with the introduction of e-scripts for scheduled medications but before it had changed, Brenda was advocating for those patients who legitimately needed their medications and couldn't get here in time. She has even driven patients and, at one time, a provider to the emergency room with her own vehicle because she wanted them to be safe and didn't want to just send them on their own. On top of that, she has even driven patient's home in her car on her own time so they wouldn't have to walk in bad weather or have to wait for someone to come get them.
Brenda takes time to educate patients and helps them learn, giving them time to ask questions and gives the patients direct access to herself. She is not only a resource for patients but also for her co-workers. The staff who work with her recognize the authority that she carries as a nurse and a caregiver and they look to her as a resource. Many times, in emergencies, she is the one who is taking charge and making sure things are being taken care of, delegating tasks to other co-workers and watching out for the patient.
Tireless work that can be tedious and more often than not, frustrating, is the work of a phone nurse. I have experienced how tireless Brenda Schooff can be and the great lengths she will take to make things work out for a patient. I appreciate how she advocates for patients, the myriad of phone calls that she makes just to get one thing to work out, and the frustrating game of phone tag that she plays day in and day out. Just recently she set a wonderful example of advocating for a patient so that healing could begin quickly and the patient would have a much better experience. There was a patient who had to have a PICC line placed and she was going to have to drive to Monroe three times daily in 8-hour intervals just to get the antibiotic. It was going to be a huge hassle for the patient as this was going to be very early in the morning in Monroe before the Brodhead branch was open and then at Brodhead for the second dose and then having to drive over to Monroe again after clinic hours to the hospital for her third dose. This was to go on for 10 days and the patient already has trouble getting around and finding rides. It was a mess and all the nurses were involved trying to make this easier for the patient. Brenda called the pharmacist and asked about alternatives for the patient and then put through a telephone encounter to the provider to get the approval and order to change to the new medication that was only required daily instead of three times daily. Then she set up IV antibiotics in the midst of all the chaos for the new medication that was only once daily for the patient. So many times, she goes through the hard and trying times to make it easier for the patients. There is really so much to be said for her. Just one more thing among the many is that she calls to check up on patients whom she knows are dealing with a serious illness or have just gotten out of the hospital or emergency room or ones who call with symptoms just to follow up and see how they are doing.
Brenda is a compassionate, caring, skilled individual who brings all those abilities and more to her work every day. She puts in 100% and it shows. Her skills in assessment and triage make her a wonderful phone nurse and her caring and concern for patients make her stand out from the rest. A lot of times, she takes the brunt of things just because she is a nurse, but she takes it in stride because she is a very good nurse.